Thank you Aftab
On Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 10:51 PM, Afthab Ellath <[email protected]> wrote: > *How many compromises can queer people make in order to build powerful > alliances?* > > ... > > ... > > > Still, there are times when we encounter racism within queer communities, > and homophobia within racial and religious communities. So the question then > emerges, how do any of us negotiate this issue? Again, let us remember that > queers of color negotiate this all the time, and that those negotiations are > the best examples we have of how to go about trying to connect these issues, > and forge a coalition that is anti-homopobia and anti-racist. > > I think acting in coalitions means finding a way to struggle with other > groups where some disagreements and antagonisms remain in play. I am not > sure all disagreements need to be solved before we agree to enter a > coalition. Some of us are “coalitional subjects” without any choice, and > other times we work with people with whom we disagree because certain > notions of political equality and justice bring us together. My view is that > a coalition has to know what its political aims are, but also how to live > with certain antagonisms that are not resolved easily or quickly. A certain > patience is needed, And sometimes it is only after people have worked with > one another that those antagonisms become less defining or important. > > *A few years ago you said that the hamas and hizbollah would be > progressive social movements. Do you still have that opinion?* > I never said that. I was asked whether, as a matter of description, Hamas > and Hezbollah are part of the global left. I said I thought (a) that they > are left movements and that (b) like all left movements, there are some that > I support and there are some that I do not. I was simply describing where > they are on the continuum of positions, but I never called them progressive > social movements and I never voiced any support for them. > > *How do you reconcile their islamistic thinking that includes homophobic > and patriachal as well as militaristic thinking with your queer theory?* > Since there seems to be a misunderstanding about my position, I think this > question is mistaken. I do not seek to reconcile such movements. My only > concern is to underscore the importance of not engaging in islamophobic > thinking and acting. Islam is a complex and important set of religious and > moral positions that can in no way be reduced to the political parties that > claim to be representing Islam at the present moment. My sense is that we > need to think clearly and study carefully these traditions and political > organizations. Let us also be clear that there are several muslim queer > organizations, and that those organizations are very rarely represented in > the mainstream public discourse on queer politics. > > Afthab Ellath > > > > On Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 9:09 PM, Afthab Ellath <[email protected]> wrote: > >> *Would you say that queer people are more obligated to get politically >> involved than others because they`re being discriminated against in every >> day life?* >> >> I would say that they are no more and no less obligated than others. >> Perhaps there is a common obligation to protect the rights of minorities, >> and this means not only to protect that rights of those minority categories >> to which I belong, but to all minorities who suffer disenfranchisement. >> I believe this obligation should be honored by those in the majority as >> well. Let us remember that some of us are majority in some respects and >> minority in others, and that an obligation to equality does not emerge from >> a minority status or from a majority status, but from some abiding political >> commitment to democracy. >> >> http://www.transnational-queer-underground.net/?p=547 >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Green Youth Movement" group. > To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<greenyouth%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
