StandWithUs/San Francisco Voice for Israel held a counterdemonstration last week when an anti-Israel group rallied outside the opening-night gala for Frameline37, an LGBT film festival in San Francisco.
QUIT (Queers Undermining Israeli Terror) played loud instruments and chanted outside the June 20 party because the festival included a screening of the Israeli film “Melting Away” that was co-sponsored by the Israeli Consulate. QUIT accuses the Israeli government of “pinkwashing,” or promoting its gay rights advances to veil injustices regarding the Palestinians, and is also pro-BDS (boycotts, divestments and sanctions against Israel).
A small SWU/SF Voice for Israel contingent handed out fliers to “counter QUIT’s bigoted rhetoric and highlight Israel’s record of ensuring individual human rights for all its LGBT citizens,” according to a pre-event action alert.
The pro-Israel people also handed out pink hand sanitizer as a statement “that this is the only pinkwashing people are going to see,” said Dr. Michael Harris, spokesman for SF Voice for Israel.