Moved by Tragedy Into Action

On October 7, 2023, the world changed for Jews everywhere.

The brutal attacks in southern Israel shattered any illusion that antisemitism was something confined to history books. Families were murdered. Communities were attacked. Hostages were taken. Innocent people were targeted simply because they were Israeli and Jewish. For LGBTQ+ Jews, the trauma carried an additional weight: we watched as some of the very movements and communities that had taught us to stand against hatred and defend marginalized people became increasingly silent—or openly hostile—when that hatred was directed at Jews.

In the days and months that followed October 7, we saw the emergence and amplification of organizations and activists calling themselves “Queers for Palestine.” Their existence raised a difficult question for many LGBTQ+ Jews: Where are we supposed to belong when our Jewish identity is treated as something incompatible with our queer identity?

We believe solidarity cannot be selective.

We believe LGBTQ+ people should not be asked to choose between their sexuality, their gender identity, their Jewish identity, and their connection to Israel. We believe Palestinians deserve dignity, freedom, and safety—and we believe Israelis, Jews, and LGBTQ+ people deserve those same things. Human rights do not become less important when the victims are Jewish.

What troubled us most was the hypocrisy we witnessed within parts of the LGBTQ+ activist movement: communities that rightly condemn hatred, discrimination, violence, and oppression in one context sometimes excused, minimized, or ignored antisemitism in another. Pride was never supposed to have a hierarchy of whose identity deserves protection.

That is why Queers For Israel was created.

We were moved by tragedy—but we were driven into action.

Queers For Israel was established to create a home for LGBTQ+ Jews and our allies who refuse to abandon either part of who they are. We exist for the gay Jew who feels unwelcome in parts of the Jewish community, and unwelcome in parts of the LGBTQ+ community. We exist for Israelis and supporters of Israel who believe their identity and connection to Israel should not disqualify them from belonging in queer spaces.

We are building a community where being Jewish and being queer are not competing identities. They are both part of who we are.

Our organization stands firmly against antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, racism, terrorism, and hatred in every form. We reject the notion that supporting LGBTQ+ rights requires abandoning Jewish self-determination, and we reject the notion that supporting Israel requires abandoning our commitment to Palestinian human dignity.

We will not be intimidated into silence.

We will not allow antisemitism to be repackaged as activism.

And we will not allow LGBTQ+ Jews to be told that they must choose between Pride and Jewish pride, their queer identity and their Jewish identity, their community and their people.

October 7th reminded us how quickly hatred can become violence when the world looks away.

Our response is not to look away.

Our response is to stand together.

Queers For Israel is that stand—a community, an advocacy organization, and a safe space for LGBTQ+ Jews around the world.

We were moved by tragedy.

We chose action.

And we choose each other.