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An LGBTQ (Lesbian Gay Bi Transgender Queer) rights activist group says that while Israel may have embraced LGBTQ rights, it cannot be a truly democratic state unless it does the same for Palestinians.

Speakers from different organizations joined last night at the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre for ‘Coming Out Against Israeli Apartheid’, a discussion held by Queers Against Israeli Apartheid to raise awareness of the perceived Israeli occupation, among both the LGBTQ and Arab/Muslim communities.

Some of the speakers, such as Rafeef Ziadah, a third generation Palestinian and member of the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, feel that Israel is an apartheid state because Israeli and Palestinian citizens are treated differently. For example, Palestinians are not allowed to join the Israeli army, which has additional benefits, and also have to frequently show ID and cross checkpoints.

“There are two sets of rules for two different types of people living in the same area,” Ziadah said. “If that’s not apartheid then I don’t know what is.”

She said that for this reason, Israel is not a democracy.

“Israel wants to be a singular, Jewish state, but also claims to be a democracy,” she said. “It needs to make up its mind, because those two things are contradictory.”

Other speakers, such as May, who did not want to give her full name, agreed with Ziadah. May is a Palestinian who identifies as queer, and she thinks Israel is being hypocritical by granting full civil rights to only some demographics.

“If we’re to build a queer movement based on the concept of justice, it shouldn’t be that it’s OK to be queer but it’s not OK to be other things,” she said.

But some audience members spoke out against the discussion, saying the forum was one-sided.

“Why focus on Israel, why not Saudi Arabia or Iran?” asked Daniel F., a third generation Jewish Canadian who chose not to disclose his last name.

“They’re attacking Israel disproportionately; Israel gives homosexuals more human rights than any other surrounding Arab country.”

Daniel also said he thought the attack on Israel was really just a way of “furthering their anti-Semitism through the disguise of human rights.”

But Ziadah countered that the aim of the presentation was not to point fingers at Israel for being anti-homophobic, but to bring attention to the idea that equality is not given evenly to all citizens of Israel.

She said that although there are homophobia problems in surrounding countries, it is not an excuse to ignore human rights issues in Israel.

“If you fight for justice and equality, you fight for it everyday, everywhere.”