As the State of Israel seeks to boost its public image, and boost tourist dollars, one way it has done so has been to highlight its excellent record on LGBT equality. Israel’s critics, however, call this “pinkwashing” – the attempt to whitewash/pinkwash Israel’s occupation of the West Bank by depicting Israel as a liberal democracy. The battle has grown fierce, leading to boycotts and denunciations from right and left. Which side is right? What are the facts and the values at issue, and what do they say about how all of us – left, right, gay, straight, Zionist, anti-Zionist – formulate our political allegiances and solidarities?
