Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT!) is a

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

-based queer political action group that advocates for

boycott, divestment, and sanctions Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's o ...

against the State of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

while opposing the State’s pinkwashing and ethnic cleansing of

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

. The group was founded in early 2001 by a member of LAGAI-Queer Insurrection.

Goals

The group advocates for the

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's ...

movement, the

right of return The right of return is a principle in international law which guarantees everyone's right of return to, or re-entry to, their country of citizenship. The right of return is part of the broader human rights concept of freedom of movement and is al ...

for Palestinians, and the withdrawal of the State of Israel from the

Occupied Palestinian territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been occupi ...

. It characterizes

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

as a form of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

. QUIT! opposes pinkwashing, which it defines as the use of LGBTQ rights to promote the State of Israel’s

anti-Palestinian Anti-Palestinianism or anti-Palestinian racism refers to prejudice, collective hatred, and discrimination directed at the Palestinian people for any variety of reasons. Since the mid-20th century, the phenomenon has largely overlapped with anti ...

policies. Critics have questioned the group's stance in relation to LGBTQ rights in the State of Palestine.

Activities

Protests/campaigns

* February 2002—QUIT! participated in the National Student Conference of the

Palestine Solidarity Movement The Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM) is a student organization in the United States which was established in 2000 after the start of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in Israel. The organization aims to use "divestment as a tactic to non-violently influence ...

on the

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

campus of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

. * June 2002—QUIT! "initiated" a " 'No pride in occupation' anti-war contingent that marched in solidarity with the Palestinian people" in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group is ...

Pride March A pride parade (also known as pride event, pride festival, pride march, or pride protest) is an event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride. The eve ...

. * August 2002—25 members of the group reportedly "took over" a

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

in Berkeley in protest of the firm's stores in

and CEO

Howard Schultz Howard D. Schultz (born July 19, 1953) is an American businessman and author who was the chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks from 1986 to 2000, from 2008 to 2017, and interim CEO from 2022 to 2023. Schultz owned the Seattle SuperS ...

's support for Israel. * June 2003—The screening of an Israeli film,

Yossi & Jagger ''Yossi & Jagger'' () is a 2002 Israeli romantic drama film directed by Eytan Fox about soldiers at the Israel–Lebanon border who try to find some peace and solace from the daily routine of war. The film has a sequel entitled '' Yossi'' ( ''Yos ...

, at San Francisco's

San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival The Frameline Film Festival (also known as San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival and formerly known as San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival; San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival) is an annual event that ...

is disrupted by QUIT! activists. The protest "outraged" Yossi Amrani, the Israeli Consul General and caused a minor local media flap. * June 2003—QUIT! begins its campaign against the cosmetic company Estée Lauder outside of a

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

department store in San Francisco. The company is targeted because of

Ronald Lauder Ronald Steven Lauder (born February 26, 1944) is an American businessman and pro-Israel political activist. He and his brother, Leonard Lauder, are the sole heirs to the Estée Lauder Companies, Estée Lauder cosmetics company, founded by their ...

's, the company's founder, support for Israel and his service as president of the

Jewish National Fund The Jewish National Fund (JNF; , ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael''; previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') is a non-profit organizationProfessor Alon Tal, The Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion ...

. * In 2004, the Estee Lauder Companies boycott campaign titled "Estee Slaughter" was financed, in part, by a $1500 grant from

RESIST A resist, used in many areas of manufacturing and art, is something that is added to parts of an object to create a pattern by protecting these parts from being affected by a subsequent stage in the process. Often the resist is then removed. For ...

. * In December of 2023, QUIT! protested from the Castro District to San Francisco City Hall calling for a permanent cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.

Founder arrested in West Bank and Israel

In December, 2004, one of QUIT!'s founders, Kate Bender-Raphael was arrested by Israeli authorities while "filming a clash between Israeli soldiers and activists protesting the building of the

separation barrier A separation barrier or separation wall is a Barricade, barrier, wall or fence, constructed to limit the movement of people across a certain line or border, or to ethnic segregation, separate peoples or cultures. A separation barrier that runs a ...

in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

village of

Bil'in Bil'in () is a Palestinian village located in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, west of the city of Ramallah in the central West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Bil'in had a population of 2,137 in 2017. I ...

." Bender-Raphael had been arrested in Israel and deported in 2003 "also for filming the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

' reaction to a demonstration against the barrier." As a result of her arrest, QUIT! staged a protest outside the Israeli

Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...

in San Francisco.

Boycott World Pride Jerusalem

In late 2004, in response to Interpride's decision that the Israeli group Jerusalem Open House would host the second World Pride parade in 2005, QUIT! launched a Boycott World Pride campaign. The boycott picked up steam after the event was postponed until August 2006 because of the pullout of the Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip. QUIT and many other individuals and organizations contended that it was inappropriate to hold an event titled "Love Without Borders" in a city bisected by a 30-foot concrete wall. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) decided, in March 2006, not to participate in World Pride Jerusalem, stating, "IGLHRC recognizes that many LGBTI people in the region who wish to attend World Pride 2006, named 'Love without Borders,' will be unable to do so due to travel restrictions and conditions that limit mobility and participation."

San Francisco LGBT Film Festival

In an open letter signed by more than 100 artists and writers, including

Sophie Fiennes Sophie Fiennes (born 12 February 1967) is an English filmmaker best known for her films '' Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami'' (2017) and '' Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow'' (2010), as well as for her collaborations with philosopher Slavoj Ži� ...

Elia Suleiman Elia Suleiman (, ; born 28 July 1960) is a Palestinian film director and actor. He is best known for the 2002 film ''Divine Intervention'' (), a modern tragicomedy on living under occupation in Palestine which won the Jury Prize at the 2002 Cann ...

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...

Haim Bresheeth Haim can be a first name or surname originating in Hebrew or derived from the Old German name Haimo. Etymology Hebrew Chayyim ( ', Classical Hebrew: , Israeli Hebrew: ), also transcribed ''Haim, Hayim, Chayim'', or ''Chaim'' (English pronunciati ...

, Jenny Morgan,

John Berger John Peter Berger ( ; 5 November 1926 – 2 January 2017) was an English art critic, novelist, painter and poet. His novel '' G.'' won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism '' Ways of Seeing'', written as an accompaniment to t ...

Arundhati Roy Suzanna Arundhati Roy (; born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. ...

Ahdaf Soueif Ahdaf Soueif (; born 23 March 1950) is an Egyptian novelist and political and cultural commentator. Early life Soueif was born in Cairo, where she lives, and was educated in Egypt and England. She studied for a PhD in linguistics at the Universit ...

Eduardo Galeano Eduardo Germán María Hughes Galeano (; 3 September 1940 – 13 April 2015) was a Uruguayan journalist, writer and novelist considered, among other things, "a literary giant of the Latin American left" and "global soccer's pre-eminent man of le ...

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

, and

Leon Rosselson Leon Rosselson (born 22 June 1934, Harrow, Middlesex, England) is an English songwriter and writer of children's books. After his early involvement in the folk music revival in Britain, he came to prominence, singing his own satirical songs, i ...

, Frameline was asked "to honor calls for an international boycott of Israeli political and cultural institutions, by discontinuing Israeli consulate sponsorship of the LGBT film festival and not cosponsoring events with the Israeli consulate."

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.quitpalestine.org 2001 establishments in California Anti-Israeli sentiment in the United States Anti-Zionist organizations Boycott organizers Community organizing Israel–United States relations LGBTQ culture in San Francisco LGBTQ organizations based in the United States Organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Organizations based in San Francisco Organizations established in 2001 Palestinian solidarity movement in the United States Protests in the United States Queer culture Palestine–United States relations