The Washington, D.C., “Dyke March” turned away Jewish marchers carrying LGBT pride flags emblazoned with the Star of David Saturday, making good on a threat to turn away anyone who showed up to the event with Jewish pride for the Israeli flag.
The D.C. Dyke March announced the policy last week, telling potential attendees of the event, billed as “an all-inclusive celebration of underrepresented people,” that symbols of “Zionism” would not be tolerated — even though the event organizers explicitly said they would allow Palestinian flags, according to The Washington Times.
Last year, organizers at the Chicago Dyke March enforced a similar policy, ejecting anyone from the LGBT Pride event who openly expressed support for the Jewish state, even though Israel is one of the only gay-friendly Middle Eastern countries. Organizers issued the ban in support of “intersectionality,” and out of concern for “Zionism” within their ranks, which they consider akin to “oppression.”
Yael Horowitz, one of the event’s organizers, told The Washington Times that the D.C. ban was a “protest against ‘nations that have specific oppressive tendencies,’” and that pride flags bearing a similarity to the American flag would be similarly unwelcome.
“If someone would show up with an American flag but with the stripes as a rainbow, we would treat it the same way,” Horowitz added. “I think what’s getting erased here is pro-Israel and pro-Jewish are very different things.”
“Jewish stars and other identifications and celebrations of Jewishness (yarmulkes, tallit, other expressions of Judaism or Jewishness) are welcome and encouraged,” Horowitz added in a Facebook post. “We do ask that participants not bring pro-Israel paraphernalia in solidarity with our queer Palestinian friends.”
Another organizer told The Washington Times that the mere presence of pro-Israel symbols turned the march into an “unsafe space.”
“The issue [with the Jewish Pride flag] is where the Star of David is positioned in a way that looks like an Israeli flag, it creates an unsafe space,” the organizer told The Forward. “It really is a shame that Israel took this symbol of Judaism and turned it into this nationalist symbol….I understand the Jewish pride flag is a symbol that a lot of Jews have come to embrace, but there are so many other Jewish symbols that we can use to express our Judaism, like a Star of David [on a necklace], like a yarmulke, a tallit.”
Organizers made good on their promise to block and eject anyone who showed up at Saturday’s event with a Star of David on their pride flag. Israeli writer Hen Mazzig captured a confrontation between march organizers — who are members of the “anti-Zionist” Jewish organization, If Not Now — and pro-Israel march participants.
“In order for pride flags not to be about Israel, all you have to do is remove the (Jewish) Star” – @IfNotNowOrg Jewish collaborator guard at the entrance to the @dcdykemarch separating good Jews from bad Jews
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) June 8, 2019
Organizers can be seen in the video telling a Jewish marcher that she will be allowed to march with her pride flag — provided she remove the Star of David from the flag before entering the event.
Apparently, “intersectionality” is fine until it comes to including supporters of the state of Israel.