Palestinian gay couple killed by Israeli Gaza bombing

Two gay Palestinians who lived in Gaza and were in a relationship were killed when an Israeli bomb directly hit their apartment building

A gay Palestinian couple was killed by an Israeli bomb that directly hit their apartment building.

The two men, one aged 21 the other 31 years-old, were spending time in their apartment on Friday evening (16 November), when a bomb hit the apartment building.

The two were killed on the spot.

Amnesty has so far estimated that at least 66 innocent Palestinian civilians killed by the Israel’s military operation ‘Pillar of Cloud’ that launched on 14 November, with many more wounded and made homeless.

A Palestinian lesbian activist reported that several of her family members were gravely wounded by the Israeli bombardment on Monday (19 November).

They were so badly wounded that they had to be taken to Cairo for medical treatment where they are struggling for their lives.

Several Palestinian gay activists have confirmed the two incidents.

Homosexuality is illegal in Gaza as a British Mandate Criminal Code Ordinance, from 1936, remains in force and continues to outlaw same-sex acts between men, although lesbian women are not subjects of the code and their relations are thus, technically, not unlawful.

Speaking with GayStarNews, Abdu Rawashda, from the Norwegian based Queers for Palestine group said: ‘The bombs that Israel drops on Gaza kill Palestinians without discrimination between young and old, male and female, straight and gay.

‘LGBT people in Gaza are caught in difficult position, on the one side we have the Israeli aggression and siege which traps us in a huge prison and makes our life intolerable, even when they are not bombing us. The situation is ten times worse now.

‘On the other side there is Hamas which is not sympathetic to our cause.

‘LGBT people in Gaza have no one to go to and ask for help except the fragile and frightened community that has no organization, facilities or any support.

‘The LGBT community in Gaza urgently needs help.

‘I call upon the international community and NGO to help the Gazan LGBT community which is in a precarious position.’

by Dan Littauer
Source – Gay Star News