The Ottawa Pride parade is scheduled for August 25. This year the organizers of the Ottawa Pride parade have decided to boycott Israeli companies that are directly involved in the Palestinian genocide.
This decision has prompted several participants to withdraw from the festivities. This is the case for the Liberal Party, currently in power in Canada, several organizations, corporations, the mayor of Ottawa, and representatives of various embassies.
Several of these organizations have renounced participating in the events explaining that the parade should not be diverted for political purposes.
The Pride committee had condemned the brutal attack by Hamas last fall. But, has not remained silent on the Israeli government’s campaign for its LGBTQ+ inclusion in order to distract from the carnage in the Gaza Strip.
The Pride committee organizers started on August 6 denouncing Israel for “pinkwashing,” a term that refers to superficial support for LGBTQ+ people. (La Presse)
“Some of the growing Islamophobic sentiment we’re seeing is fueled by the [disguised diversity] of the war in Gaza and racist notions that all Palestinians are homophobic and transphobic,” said the organizers. (La Presse)
Several Jewish organizations in the Ottawa area have reported feeling excluded from the parade. On Monday, the Pride organizers issued another statement explaining their position. Their action is not geared toward excluding anyone; rather, they are focused on denouncing certain actions by Israel, while denouncing anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
It seems that many organizations and politicians denouncing the Pride Committee organizers for taking a political stance on the conflict in Palestine are mistaken about the themes they are using.
Indeed, the Pride Committee denounces both the violence carried out by Hamas and the violence carried out by Israel, while denouncing the pinkwashing carried out by Israel.
The committee takes a moral position towards the LGBTQ+ community in Israel and Palestine and the violence carried out by Israel on the Palestinian people. This is not a political decision that supports one faction in this war.
Furthermore, it is surprising that Canadian government politicians cannot differentiate between a political position and a moral one.
It may be the morality of these politicians that is in crisis at present since they are unable to publicly denounce and take a moral stance to stop the disproportionate violence carried out by Israel on the Palestinian people!
As of Today, according to UN News, the intense Israeli bombardment has claimed the lives of over 40,000 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children and injured more than 92,000, according to the Gazan health ministry. In addition, close to 90 per cent of the population has been displaced – many forced to move several times. (UN News)
The moral decision of the organizers of the Ottawa Pride parade relates to the direction of human actions. It is a moral act that is turned towards others, it is an action based on compassion.
Indeed, the Pride Parade Committee’s latest statement sums up the moral act well.
“By presenting itself as a protector of the rights of queer and trans people in the Middle East, Israel seeks to distract from its heinous human rights violations against Palestinians. We refuse to be complicit in this violence.” (La Presse)