Analysis Of Love As A Radical Act: An Exploration Of Reciprocal Solidarity

Sophie Cumming
Anth 0039
Professor Bishara
04/30/2023
Love as a Radical Act: An Exploration of Reciprocal Solidarity
"Reciprocal Solidarity: Where the Black and Palestinian Queer Struggles Meet" by Sa’ed Atshan and Darnell Moore is an exploration of the intersectionality between the queer Black and Palestinian struggles. Atshan and Moore argue that these two communities face parallel forms of oppression and marginalization, such as police violence and apartheid, thus entwining the struggles. The essay argues for the need to build reciprocal solidarity between these two communities in order to empower the liberation of the racially oppressed, particularly in Palestine and the United States. The importance of reciprocal solidarity is increasing,

Pinkwashing is described as the situation in which the Israeli state draws attention to its “purportedly progressive record on LGBT rights” to detract attention from its extensive Palestinian human rights violations (Atshan and Moore, 2014). Not only are pinkwashing and blackwashing superficially seeking to align Israel with Western political and social norms, they seek to align queer Black American activists with the Israeli cause, although Black oppression in America is structurally parallel to that of the Palestinian; “Black Americans and Palestinians are natural allies” (Atshan and Moore, 2014). This is distinctly malignant, and is a case of an oppressive state attempting to pit the oppressed against one another in order to hinder the formation of powerful reciprocal solidarities. This does not only occur in terms of the Israeli state; it is a recurring theme of those in power to create discord and tension between the oppressed in order to remain in power. Israel’s black, red, and pinkwashing is similar to internalized misogyny or internal racism; however, this form of internal oppression transcends categories to antagonize groups against one another. Awareness and activism against ‘washing’ is of the utmost importance in the fight towards mutual liberation of all oppressed groups, which is illuminated by this

"Disrupting Settler-Colonial Capitalism: Indigenous Intifadas and Resurgent Solidarity from Turtle Island to Palestine" by Chandni Desai follows in a similar vein, and Desai elucidates the hazards of assumptive solidarity, in which conflating narratives collapse important distinctions between systems of oppression. While Atshan and Moore explore ‘blackwashing’ and ‘pinkwashing’, Desai examines ‘redwashing’, which is similar to the other forms, simply utilizing a different oppressed group. Redwashing involves drawing indigenous people of the United States into being complicit in Palestinian oppression, even though there are strong structural parallels in oppression. Articles exploring intersectionality emphasize the importance of maintaining the distinctions between parallel oppressed