ACTing Up in Palestine

It took some time before the Gay City News interview with Steve Quester, who joined the International Solidarity Movement in Palestine this past April, was put on line, so I have been unable to send this until now.

While the internationals are pledged to take only non-violent actions they do support the right of the Palestinians to use force.

"If somebody invades your town you have the right to shoot at them," Quester said. "No one element alone armed struggle, diplomacy, non-violent resistance is going to free the Palestinian people."

Steve, who is a dear friend, had written the following note at the time the article first appeared, about a week ago, and it should be included here, together with the Frederick Douglas quote he appended:

The issue of Gay City News that came out today
includes a profile of me on the front page. It's long
on me and short on Palestinians, despite my best
efforts. It also completely ignores the role of women
activists--see my response, below.

--Steve

To the editors:
I was glad to have an opportunity to speak with Duncan
Osborne about the dire situation faced by Palestinians
today, and their heroic resistance to oppression
("Zionism to Palestine, via ACT UP", Gay City News,
June 7-20, 2002). I was disappointed, though, that
the (mostly male) editors of Gay City News chose not
to include information from Mr. Osborne's interview
with a lesbian who was in Palestine with me. As I
noted in my correspondence with Mr. Osborne, the
movement for freedom and justice for Palestinians is
led by women, many of them lesbians, in Palestine,
Israel, and the U.S. Men in the movement, like
myself, are too often forefronted to the exclusion of
the women doing the work.

I hope Gay City News will do features in the future on
queer women and the struggle for Palestine.

Steve Quester
Jews Against the Occupation (JATO),
Palestine Activist Forum of New York (PAFNY),
International Solidarity Movement (ISM)

===== Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.
Frederick Douglass

While the internationals are pledged to take only non-violent actions they do support the right of the Palestinians to use force.\n\n\"If somebody invades your town you have the right to shoot at them,\" Quester said. \"No one element alone armed struggle, diplomacy, non-violent resistance is going to free the Palestinian people.\"\n\n

\nSteve, who is a dear friend, had written the following note at the time the article first appeared, about a week ago, and it should be included here, together with the Frederick Douglas quote he appended:\n\n\n

The issue of Gay City News that came out today\nincludes a profile of me on the front page. It's long\non me and short on Palestinians, despite my best\nefforts. It also completely ignores the role of women\nactivists--see my response, below.\n\n--Steve

\n\n

To the editors:\n\nI was glad to have an opportunity to speak with Duncan\nOsborne about the dire situation faced by Palestinians\ntoday, and their heroic resistance to oppression\n(\"Zionism to Palestine, via ACT UP\", Gay City News,\nJune 7-20, 2002). I was disappointed, though, that\nthe (mostly male) editors of Gay City News chose not\nto include information from Mr. Osborne's interview\nwith a lesbian who was in Palestine with me. As I\nnoted in my correspondence with Mr. Osborne, the\nmovement for freedom and justice for Palestinians is\nled by women, many of them lesbians, in Palestine,\nIsrael, and the U.S. Men in the movement, like\nmyself, are too often forefronted to the exclusion of\nthe women doing the work.\n\nI hope Gay City News will do features in the future on\nqueer women and the struggle for Palestine. \n\nSteve Quester\nJews Against the Occupation (JATO),\nPalestine Activist Forum of New York (PAFNY),\nInternational Solidarity Movement (ISM)

=====\nPower concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. \n\nFrederick Douglass

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