Agudah, Facebook join to combat LGBTQ-phobia during Israel elections
The Noam Party, a right-wing extremist party, ran in past elections on the slogan of making Israel "a normal nation" with anti-LGBTQ+ slogans.
By TZVI JOFFREA Jewish youth waves a flag as he participates in a march marking "Jerusalem Day", near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City June 2, 2019. (photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)
As Israel nears Election Day, Facebook Israel and the Aguda – The Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel – are teaming up to combat LGBTQ-phobia during election season.The two will work to fight against LGBTQ-phobic campaigns both in Arabic and in Hebrew.“We at Facebook believe that people connect and share more when they are not exposed to attacks based on their identity. The company therefore fights hate speech, and our policy prohibits verbal assault against people on the basis of protectedcharacteristics, including sexual orientation,” said Jordana Cutler, head of policy at Facebook Israel, in a press release.“Our approach has always been to enlist the help of experts, organizations and public bodies that share our mission. We thank the Aguda – The Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel for their cooperation, which will surely help in understanding and dealing with hate speech that includes attacks on people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity,” added Cutler.“During election season, the discourse of hatred towards the LGBTQ+ community in Israel intensifies. This incitement has victims who pay a real price with their souls and sometimes with their lives. We will not allow a violent discourse against us nor a hate campaign on our backs,” said Ohad Hizki, director-general of the Aguda.Hizki thanked Facebook for the joint operation and its commitment to eradicating LGBTQ-phobic discourse on its platforms and asked that people who have experienced LGBTQ-phobic discourse report the incidents to the Aguda’s reporting center.The annual LGBTQ-phobia report published by the Aguda’s Nir Katz Center found that cases of LGBTQ-phobia were reported once every three hours in 2020 in Israel, as 2,696 new incidents of hate and violence against the LGBTQ+ community were reported amid the coronavirus outbreak, a 27% increase compared to 2019.In Arab-Israeli society, the Nir Katz Center found that while usually issues concerning the LGBTQ+ community are silenced in Arab society, the past year has brought a major change in the attitude of the Arab sector toward the issue.A number of significant events occurred in the Arab-Israeli LGBTQ+ community in 2019-20, including the stabbing attack at the Beit Dror shelter; the cooperation between the Aguda and the Al Arz Tahini company; the historic first demonstration of the queer Palestinian community, with the participation of MK Aida Touma-Sliman; and the divide in the Joint List created by the Conversion Therapy Bill when the parties did not all vote the same way.A number of public figures used the coronavirus as incitement against the LGBTQ+ community, including a number of rabbis who blamed the community for the pandemic.The Noam Party, an extremist party established by radical elements from the hard-line wing of the religious-Zionist community, ran in past elections on the slogan of making Israel “a normal nation” with anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-Reform movement slogans. The party’s leader, Avi Maoz, is placed sixth on the Religious Zionist Party list led by MK Bezalel Smotrich.In 2019, before the second round of Knesset elections, the party set up booths around the country manned by activists handing out pamphlets explaining Noam’s plan to make Israel “a normal nation” with anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-Reform movement slogans.Noam was formed by leaders of the Hazon movement, a hard-line National-Religious organization that campaigned against Reform Jews and the LGBTQ+ community and described itself as dedicated to “returning the Jewish character to the national agenda in Israel.”Other members of the right-wing bloc, including Smotrich and members of the haredi parties, have also made LGBTQ-phobic statements in the past.
