CALL FOR PAPERS: QUEER VISIONS, BDS, AND PINKWASHING

INTRODUCTION
The World Social Forum: Free Palestine to be held in Porto Alegre, Brazil from November 28 to December 1, 2012 will bring together activists from around the world organizing for justice in Palestine. Palestinian Queers for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions, Pinkwatching Israel, and alQaws: for sexual and gender diversity in Palestinian society are working with Palestinian partners to establish the formal structure of this year’s forum. Through this channel we aim to foreground the importance of sexual politics in the analysis of Israeli settler colonialism and occupation, promote issues of sexuality and queer politics as a key aspect of the Palestinian Liberation Struggle and, mobilize local and international activist and social movements around Queer Visions, BDS, and pinkwashing.

GOALS
We invite you to create this year’s WSF: Free Palestine with us. We will gather in Porto Alegre to discuss future goals and strategies, to create strong local and international networks, and to mobilize a comprehensive global movement for Palestinian self-determination, radical queer politics. We invite activists, social movements, and queer groups to join our project and participate in a memorable World Social Forum: Free Palestine.

• ESTABLISH a link between sexual politics and queer activism as inherent to the Palestinian Liberation Struggle.
• BUILD a queer discourse and activist practice that does not separate itself from struggles against colonialism, racism and neoliberalism.
• CREATE a platform of exchange for activists who work on pinkwashing and queer BDS.
• STRATEGIZE around the next two years of local and international anti-pinkwashing and queer BDS activism, campaigns, and actions.
• ENRICH BDS analyses, strategies and politics by presenting a comprehensive vision on the sexual politics of Israel’s occupation and apartheid system.
• NETWORK with activists from around the world and forge new connections with social movements and activists in Latin America.
• EVALUATE the work of queer activism for Palestine, examining challenges and issues that have come up over the past few years and discuss ways to overcome them.

STRUCTURE
In order to achieve the above goals, we aim to provide three main structures:

• A PLANNING COMMITTEE integrated within the formal structure of the WSF organizing committees that is comprised of international and regional activists working on queer BDS.
• A WORKING CONFERENCE for anti-pinkwashing activists to exchange and strategize around future work on queer BDS and pinkwashing.
• OPEN PUBLIC EVENTS AND PLENARY SESSIONS to present queer BDS work within the broader structure and work of the World Social Forum.

CALL FOR PAPERS
Please contact our international organizing committee with questions, suggestions, proposals, and content via info@pinkwatching.org. We are particularly looking forward to receiving proposals along two tracks:

1. Proposals for the working conference that describe and share successful and/or important queer BDS or anti-pinkwasing campaigns and actions organized within and by your local communities.
2. Proposals for public plenary and workshops around queer BDS and pinkwashing and analyze the way in which sexual politics manifest in the Israeli occupation

Please make sure your proposal doesn’t exceed 2 pages and contain the relevant contact information.

We look forward to meeting you!

You can find the formal call in PQBDS website and the new Pinkwatching Israel web.