Rauda Morcos

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Rauda Morcos
روضة مرقص ;ראודה מורקוס
Born
Northern Israel[1]
CitizenshipIsraeli (Palestinian)[2]
OrganizationAswat
Known forLGBTQ activist

Rauda Morcos (روضة مرقص ;ראודה מורקוס) is a Palestinian Israeli lesbian poet and LGBTIQ activist, whose hometown is in Northern Israel, living in Haifa in Israel.[1][3][4] In 2003, she was outed as a lesbian by a national newspaper, leading to dismissal from her job, physical assaults, and her car being damaged. She then helped other women in setting up Aswat in Israel, the first Palestinian group dedicated to supporting lesbians, which she initially led.

Career

In 2003, Morcos was interviewed for Yedioth Ahronoth (an Israeli tabloid newspaper) about her poetry, and lost her job as a youth educator.[5] During the interview, in passing she mentioned her sexuality.[6] She said the journalist promised not to reveal her sexual orientation but then outed her as a lesbian, which led to her being assaulted and her car being damaged many times.[7] She received anonymous threats and was concerned for her life.[3]

Morcos then joined other women and set up Aswat ("Voices"; which she has formerly led) in Israel in 2003 as an organisation supporting lesbians and bisexual, inter-sex, queer, transsexual, transgender, and questioning women, the only group for Arab lesbians in the Arab region.[5][4][1][8] It was based in Haifa, and was the first regional group to offer support to lesbian Palestinians.[7]

Morcos said that: "When we started Aswat, I remember the Islamic Movement issued a boycott against us as well as a fatwa [an Islamic religious legal order] against me personally, because according to them I was ‘the snake’s head.’"[9] In 2004 the group had 14 members.[10] In 2007, when Aswat had about 30 members and held its first conference, the Islamic Movement in Israel (a grouping of Arab Muslims) publicly called for the meeting to be cancelled and urged its community "to stand against the campaign to market sexual deviance among our daughters and our women."[11] Sheikh Ibrahim Sarsur, head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, said: "Our community does not tolerate this kind of behaviour. The consensus feels it is kind of a disease that must be healed ..."[11]

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (now OutRight Action International) presented its Felipa de Souza Award to Morcos in 2006, recognising her work with Aswat. She was the first Arab person to receive the award.[12] Aswat held its first conference in Haifa in 2007, with 350 attendees.[3]

Taking a post-colonial stance, Morcos has argued that human rights aid organisations from the United States and Western Europe can be patronising to Arab communities.[13] She has also spoken of links between Israeli repression of Palestinians and gay people, criticising the Israeli LGBT rights movement for not focusing more upon it.[14] She commented that "I think the Palestinian identity and the Queer identity converge in being both marginalized and they are both about resisting oppression".[7]

Morcos also said "I know that the Israeli law is among the most developed in the world, but this doesn’t mean that it is applied in reality." She added: "I know it’s not easy to be gay in the West Bank, but it’s not easy being gay in ... the U.S.A. And it’s not easy to be gay in Israel (except in Tel Aviv)."[5]

Morcos has worked as a regional advisor for organisations including the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, the Coalition of Women for Peace, the Global Fund for Women, Human Rights Watch and Mama Cash. As of 2012, she was working freelance for Hivos, a Dutch development aid organisation, and pursuing a law degree at the Carmel Academic Center in Haifa.[7]

Activism

Morcos said in 2008 that gay Palestinians are sometimes blackmailed by Israeli intelligence into outing them if they do not collaborate.[15]

In August 2020, Morcos spoke about a positive change in the Palestinian community's treatment of LBGTQ members after the funeral of Ayman Safieh, who was a leading member of the Palestinian queer community.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Coming out in Arabic". The Guardian. 2 October 2006.
  2. ^ "Rauda Marcos", The Advocate, May 23, 2006.
  3. ^ a b c Baird, Vanessa (2007). The No-Nonsense Guide to Sexual Diversity (eBook). New Internationalist. ISBN 978-1-906523-64-0. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b Luongo, Michael (4 January 2012). "Pinkwashing's Complicated Context". Gay City News.
  5. ^ a b c Aburawa, Arwa (27 July 2009). "Sexuality and the National Struggle: Being Palestinian and Gay in Israel". Menassat. MR Online. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Coming out in Arabic". The Guardian. 2 October 2006. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d Habib, Samar; Moujaes, Nayla (2012–2013). "Between Patriarchy and Occupation: Rauda Morcos and Palestinian Lesbian Activism for Bodily Rights". Al-Raida Journal: 58–64. doi:10.32380/alrj.v0i0.92. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  8. ^ "היכל הקהילה 2015: 40 המשפיעים בתולדות הקהילה". mako. 7 June 2015.
  9. ^ Konrad, Edo (2 August 2020). "'A queer cry for freedom': Meet the LGBTQ Palestinians demanding liberation". +972 Magazine.
  10. ^ Glenn Kauth (15 September 2004). "'A language no one else is speaking'". Xtra Magazine.
  11. ^ a b "I'm still alive". New Internationalist. 1 June 2007.
  12. ^ "A Celebration of Courage: Rauda Morcos, Founder of ASWAT, the First Palestinian Lesbian Group, Receives Felipa Award". OutRight Action International. 22 March 2006. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  13. ^ "Obama uses embassies to push for LGBT rights abroad". The Guardian. Associated Press in Warsaw. 28 June 2014. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  14. ^ Gerstner, David A. (2006). Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer Culture. Routledge. p. 314. ISBN 978-0-415-30651-5. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  15. ^ Harrison, Rebecca (25 March 2008). "Gay Palestinian gets OK to live with Israeli lover". Reuters. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  16. ^ "'A queer cry for freedom': Meet the LGBTQ Palestinians demanding liberation". +972 Magazine. 2 August 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
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