The Chicago “SlutWalk” has reportedly banned “Zionist displays” following an incident in which several Jewish women were expelled from the Chicago “Dyke March” last month.
Organizers of the event announced their stance on Twitter, where they supported the Chicago Dyke March’s decision to expel attendees who carried Jewish LGBT pride flags in June.
“We still stand behind Dyke March Chicago’s decision to remove the Zionist contingent from their event, & we won’t allow Zionist displays at ours,” they declared. “[The Jewish women] were kicked out after a discussion where they made their Zionist beliefs known and refused to back down.”
The Chicago Dyke March faced condemnation from various Jewish organizations last month after numerous Jewish attendees claimed they were kicked out of the event for holding Jewish LGBT pride flags.
The flags, which featured the Star of David over the LGBT rainbow, allegedly “made people feel unsafe,” and upset attendees who claimed that the march was “anti-Zionist,” and “pro-Palestinian,” prompting organizers to banish the Jews from the march.
The Chicago Dyke March defended their actions in a post following the incident, in which they made their anti-Israel position clear.
Yesterday, June 24, Chicago Dyke March was held in the La Villita neighborhood to express support for undocumented, refugee, and immigrant communities under threat of deportation. Sadly, our celebration of dyke, queer, and trans solidarity was partially overshadowed by our decision to ask three individuals carrying Israeli flags [sic] superimposed on rainbow flags to leave the rally. This decision was made after they repeatedly expressed support for Zionism during conversations with Chicago Dyke Mark [sic] members. We have since learned that at least one of these individuals is a regional director for A Wider Bridge, an organization with connections to the Israeli state and right-wing pro-Israel interest groups. A Wider Bridge has been protested for provocative actions at other LGBTQ events and has been condemned by numerous organizations (http://tarabnyc.org/cancelpinkwashing/) for using Israel’s supposed “LGBTQ tolerance” to pinkwash the violent occupation of Palestine.
The Chicago Dyke March Collective is explicitly not anti-Semitic, we are anti-Zionist. The Chicago Dyke March Collective supports the liberation of Palestine and all oppressed people everywhere.
From Palestine to Mexico, border walls have got to go!!
https://twitter.com/slutwalkchi/status/887044478497947648
The Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and pro-Israel LGBT organization A Wider Bridge all condemned Dyke March organizers and described the incident as “heinous.”
After a reporter for the LGBT newspaper Windy City Times broke the news on the ban, she was reportedly demoted from her position as a writer at the newspaper.
“You attacked, humiliated and robbed me of a job,” claimed writer Gretchen R. Hammond on Twitter in response to the Chicago Dyke March’s tweets. “No tears. I forgive you. Just hope you learn how destructive and pointless hatred is.”
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook.
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