Re-Reading Homonationalism: An Israeli Spatial Perspective

ABSTRACT

In this article we stress the need for specifically located understandings of the concept of homonationalism, by introducing an analysis of spatial and political power relations dissecting disparate constructions of LGBT arenas. The article explores three spaces: Tel-Aviv—an urban space of LGBT belonging; Jerusalem—the Israeli capital where being an LGBT individual is problematic both in public and in private spaces; and Kiryat-Shmona—a conservative and peripheral underprivileged town in the north of Israel. By showing how local understandings of queer space shape power relations and translate into subjective spaces within wide-ranging power dynamics, we claim that homonationalism cannot be seen as one unitary, consolidated category or logic. Instead, we argue, homonationalism should be considered a multidirectional and multiscale political stance, manifesting cultural practices and political relationship with the state and society in distinct settings. By expanding considerations of the nuanced interplay of state power and LGBT spaces we aim to elucidate some paradoxes of homonationalism.

KEYWORDS:

• Homonationalism
• queer geographies
• LGBT in Israel
• LGBT politics
• sexuality and space
• urban-rural

Acknowledgments

This article is part of a larger PhD project called “Politics of Pride and Shame is LGBT Activities in Israel” written at the Gender Studies Program, Bar Ilan University.

Notes

^1. For more on the implication of projections of lesbian and gay identities onto non-Western individuals, see, for example, Manalansan (1995) and Altman (2002).

^2. See http://www.gaycities.com/best-of-2011/vote.php?page=10.

^3. The classification of Mizrachim (literally translated as “Eastern” in the sense of “Oriental”) is an ethnic category created by the Israeli government referring to Jews originally from Islamic countries (as opposed to Ashkenazim, who are Jews of European origin, which is similar to Whiteness in the Western cultural context; Shohat, 1988).

^4. For a nuanced analysis of the potential of activism “from within” and modes of subversion inside the Gay Center, see Misgav (2015, 2016b).

^5. On August 1, 2009 a man entered an LGBT youth meeting at the Aguda (The Bar-Noar) in Tel-Aviv, killing two and injuring 14.