The San Francisco Board of Supervisors recently voted to support the World Pride celebration that is planned for this summer in Jerusalem, Israel. This decision has sparked criticism from LGBT groups that oppose Israel's policies and actions in the Palestinian territories. A number of organizations have announced a boycott of the celebration, which is slated to take place in the contested city of Jerusalem on August 18-20, saying that Israel's policies toward the Palestinians make a mockery of the theme of the event, "love without borders". "No city in the world could have more borders than Jerusalem," said Kate Raphael-Bender of QUIT!.

Rafael-Bender says that Israeli borders continue to encroach further and further into Palestinian territory, and are enforced by military checkpoints and cement walls. QUIT! is urging people to observe ongoing international boycotts of travel to Israel and Israeli products as a way that the international community can exert pressure on Israel to withdraw its forces from Palestine. "For internationals to stay away from this event will send a very clear message to the Israeli government," Raphael-Bender says, while noting that the situation is different for people in Israel. Local LGBT groups Black Laundry and the Palestinian lesbian group Aswat plan to participate in the event and use it to draw attention to the injustices that Palestinians are subject to under the Israeli occupation. Read more

QUIT! has produced a 15-minute video to counter the one produced last summer by Blue Star PR to promote World Pride. QUIT!'s "Love Without Borders?" piece presents the true image of Jerusalem, a city divided by a 25-foot concrete wall, which has caused death and destruction in Palestinian communities for the last two years. World Pride Trailer (Windows Media Player version) | Full video

Indybay's past coverage of World Pride 2005 | Boycott World Pride | QUIT! Palestine