University of Michigan to Host Event on "Queer Palestinian Film & the Second Intifada"
While UMich event focuses on “queer Palestinian cinema” during the Second Intifada, LGBTQ Palestinians continue to flee violence by other Palestinians — often finding refuge in Israel
The University of Michigan (UMich) is set to host a screening and lecture on "Queer Palestinian Film & the Second Intifada" on Monday, February 2, 2026 to discuss how queer Palestinian cinema emerged and how those elements connect to the broader trends of the Second Intifada, a violent uprising in which over 1,000 Israelis were killed by Palestinian terrorists. The two short films to be screened are Chic Point (2003) and Diary of a Male Whore (2001).
The event at UMich’s Lane Hall is sponsored by multiple university departments, including Women’s and Gender Studies and Arab and Muslim American Studies, and will explore how these films use “queer narratives and experiences” as a visual language for critiquing Israel’s response to terrorism during the Second Intifada.
A Deadly Reality
While Western academics analyze queer Palestinian cinema as “resistance art,” LGBTQ individuals living under Palestinian Authority and Hamas control face severe persecution. In Gaza, same-sex activity remains a criminal offense, with LGBTQ individuals facing the threat of imprisonment or extrajudicial execution by Hamas. In the West Bank, while same-sex acts are technically decriminalized under Jordanian law, the Palestinian Authority provides no legal protections, leaving individuals highly vulnerable to state harassment and severe social violence.
A 2023 United Nations Human Rights Council report documented harrowing testimonies from gay Palestinians who escaped Gaza and the West Bank. One man recounted Hamas detention: “They put me in a tiny room two-by-two meters. They wouldn’t let me sleep or go to the bathroom inside. There was no food. They would torture me so badly.” Another described being “hanged from the ceiling,” beat up, and interrogated for five days.
LGBTQ Palestinians Fleeing to Israel for Protection
The desperation driving LGBTQ Palestinians to flee became horrifyingly clear in October 2022, when 25-year-old Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh was beheaded near Hebron after years of family beatings forced him to escape to Israel in 2020. His alleged killer filmed the murder and circulated it on social media, reportedly to “make an example of him.” A BBC News Arabic survey found only 5% of West Bank Palestinians accept same-sex relations.
In 2024, the Tel Aviv Court for Administrative Affairs ruled that LGBTQ Palestinians facing “risk of sexual and political persecution” can request asylum in Israel.
The two most prominent Palestinian LGBTQ organizations—alQaws and Aswat—are legally headquartered in Israel for security and registration purposes. This provides a legal 'buffer' that allows them to maintain a presence and organize in the West Bank while mitigating the risk of being shut down or prosecuted by the Palestinian Authority. In 2019, the Palestinian Authority banned Al Qaws from holding events in the West Bank, with police spokesman describing the group’s activities as a blow to, and violation of, the ideals and values of Palestinian society.
The cognitive dissonance is insane.