As the Austin Pride Foundation prepares to host its annual Pride parade and festival Saturday to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, a pro-Palestinian activist group said the foundation is banning certain symbols and phrases it considers to be “anti-Jewish.”
A picture of a slide that the Austin Pride Foundation presented July 28 to its parade participants, which was obtained by the American-Statesman and was later posted by the Austin for Palestine Coalition on an Instagram story, said that “hate speech against against (sic) the Jewish community at Austin Pride events is unacceptable.”
The foundation's slide said that “symbols or signs used by terrorist and hate groups” are not allowed at Austin Pride events. The illustrations of banned materials shown in the slide included a protester wearing a kaffiyeh and holding a watermelon sign — two common symbols representing Palestinian liberation — a sign that read “ADL Out of Pride,” a banner that read “Globalize the Intifada,” a Palestinian flag that read “From the River to the Sea Palestine will be free,” and the flag of Hamas.
The slide also said, “Everyone is welcome at Pride."
A person who attended the meeting, who asked to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation from their employer, said it "was made clear" that those who had such symbols at the Pride events would be removed by the foundation.
In a statement by Austin Pride Foundation President Micah Andress in response to Statesman questions, he said no country’s flags or support for a country will be barred. Andress confirmed that the Palestinian flag is “absolutely allowed” at the Pride events.
“The only restriction is on hate speech, consistent with our long-standing policy. We encourage everyone to express themselves freely,” Andress said. “Pride is about love and acceptance for all, and we welcome everyone to join us at Austin Pride.”
Andress also said the organization does not take political stands on issues “that do not impact the local LGBTQ+ community” and that its focus is to create a “safe and welcoming community” for all.
“We recognize that many members of our community are concerned with global and external issues that require attention and solutions. However, this weekend, we ask that our focus be on Austin Pride,” Andress said.
Afshan Kamrudin, a queer Muslim person in Austin who has helped the Austin for Palestine Coalition organize and who uses they/them pronouns, said the conflation of pro-Palestinian activism with "hate groups" and with hurting Jewish queer individuals is dangerous to LGBTQ+ people.
Kamrudin said the foundation's slide felt “extremely irresponsible” as they believe it equates Arabic words with antisemitism.
“When they do that, they are putting queer Muslims in the line of fire,” Kamrudin said.
Jackie Nirenberg, the regional director for Anti-Defamation League Austin — the Central Texas chapter of the national organization which tracks extremism, antisemitism and other hate actions — told the Statesman that she had not previously heard directly of the Austin Pride symbols banning controversy, adding that she supports free speech and protests but not hate speech. Nirenberg said the ADL Austin is careful to distinguish anti-Israel remarks from anti-Jewish ones, but said the impact of the speech outweighs its intent.
For instance, she said, chants like “Intifada” and “From the River to the Sea” are “a very painful thing to hear” for many Jewish people, who interpret them as a call for Israel, and its people, to cease to exist. The Austin for Palestine Coalition, however, has said those chants are calls to liberate Palestine and not to eradicate Jewish people.
“Whether the intention was there or not, the issue is the impact it has,” Nirenberg added. “If you were to say something similar that had that meaning to any other marginalized group that’s a good litmus test. … Anything that you would say that would imply you want to wipe them off the planet would be unacceptable, right?”
But Tessa Mitterhoff, an Austin organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace, sent a letter to Austin Pride with members of the queer Jewish community expressing their concern about the limits on pro-Palestinian expression. Mitterhoff said about 50 people have signed the letter.
"They're speaking for us in different ways, and it's really not respective of how we feel," Mitterhoff said about Austin Pride. "Being Jewish and being queer and also standing up for Palestine, all of those in my mind are very interconnected in that we really want to stand up against oppression."
Mitterhoff added that antisemitism is a real threat, but not one they feel from calls to end oppression against Palestinian people.
Laila Dabbakeh, an Austin for Palestine Coalition member who is Palestinian and has seen the picture of the Austin Pride Foundation's slide, said the group's characterization of pro-Palestinian symbols represents a pattern of exclusion and villainization of voices critiquing Israel, and it dangerously conflates antisemitism with critiques of Israel’s government.
“We fully agree that there should be no anti-Jewish hate ever, end of story,” Dabbakeh said. “Then all the images are of Palestinians or pro-Palestinians, and that’s where the problem comes in. … You are saying that Palestinians are terrorists and are anti-Jewish, and that is incredibly inaccurate and false.”
She also criticized the foundation for only including pro-Palestinian images on the slide and not mentioning white nationalism, which has been tied to perpetuating antisemitism.
“It is so dehumanizing and painful,” Dabbakeh said. “It is not a hate group to be anti-genocide.”
'None of us are free until all of us are free'
Both antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents have risen in Austin since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, with vandalism of Jewish buildings and hate crimes against Muslim people reported in the city this year. Protests, particularly pro-Palestinian demonstrations, have also increased in Austin and across the nation — but in Texas, pressure from conservative officials to squelch anti-Israel speech that they deem antisemitic has raised concern about whether pro-Palestinian protesters' First Amendment rights are being protected in a content-neutral way.
Israel declared war on Hamas after the Palestinian militant group governing Gaza attacked the Jewish state on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 civilians and taking more than 200 hostages. Israel's resulting attacks on Gaza have killed more than 39,000 people, mostly civilian, according to Palestinian health authorities, Reuters has reported, and has resulted in international criticism and pressure to negotiate a cease-fire.
The Austin for Palestine Coalition released a statement on Instagram that said it was troubled by the Austin Pride Foundation's slides and accused the group of “pinkwashing” — promoting LGBTQ+ rights as a way to distract from the Palestinian cause instead of recognizing the intersectionality between the two marginalized groups.
“None of us are free until all of us are free,” the organization said on Instagram. The coalition plans to hold a meetup before the parade Saturday to “flood downtown with symbols of queer and Palestinian pride” during the march.
Nirenberg said people can report instances of antisemitism to the ADL's webpage, and that the community should embrace its responsibility to protect one another and come together.
Kamrudin said they hope Austin Pride provides greater clarity on what constitutes a hate symbol and recognizes Palestinians' experience and struggle.
“The very first thing they can do is distinguish and differentiate between a hate symbol and a symbol for liberation,” they said. “I absolutely agree with them that we shouldn't have hate symbols at Pride.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin Pride ban some speech, symbols used at pro-Palestinian protests
