LGBTQ Group Suspends Israeli Chapter for Offering to Host Conference

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA World) has not only rejected a bid by its Israeli chapter to host its annual conference, but also suspended the Israeli branch, Aguda, entirely.

In a press statement Tuesday, ILGA World said that it h:

The bid to host our next World Conference in Tel Aviv will not go forward and will not be put to a vote at the upcoming World Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. The ILGA World Board held an emergency meeting and unanimously decided to remove the bid from The Aguda from consideration, and it has also decided to suspend the organisation from our membership.

Cape Town, while a relatively tolerant city, is also a hotbed of anti-Israel activism and radical Islamic organizations.

In a letter to member organizations, ILGA World apologized even for considering Israel and Tel Aviv as a potential host site for its future conference (original emphasis):

ILGA World apologises. We know that seeing the Tel Aviv bid taken into consideration caused anger and harm to our communities. Our apology goes to our members, to our host organisations and our global communities — and especially to those in South Africa, who will soon host the global movement for our upcoming World Conference. We recognise the historical experience with apartheid and colonialism in South Africa: even the possibility of voting on such a bid in their home country would have been at odds with the unequivocal solidarity for the Palestinian people.

We heard our communities, and we must do better in the future: a situation like this must not repeat. This is why we call our global membership to action: we need stronger governance practices in vetting the proposals we receive.  Therefore, the ILGA World Board supports the operative part in the emergency motion from our member organisations, which calls for an amendment of the Standing Orders to have better guidelines on the criteria for accepting candidacies and proposals.

…

We hope this will be a learning moment for our organisation. Only with improved governance processes, greater context and political awareness, and more participation will we be able to serve our communities even better.

The Times of Israel noted:

Aguda responds, according to Hebrew media, that it is “deeply disappointed by the fact that ILGA chose to boycott those who work for LGBTQ rights and for a more just society. The Aguda has been working for over 50 years to aid the LGBTQ community and preserve all human rights, including helping LGBTQ people from the Arab community and Palestinian asylum seekers persecuted over their sexual and gender identity.”

Israel is the only country in the Middle East in which homosexuality is legal; it is criminalized under the Palestinian Authority, and LGBTQ individuals face imprisonment and even execution in many other countries in the region.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.