From Ramallah to New York, Tel Aviv to Porto Alegre, people around the world celebrate a formidable, transnational Palestinian LGBTQ social movement. Solidarity with Palestinians has become a salient domain of global queer politics. Yet LGBTQ Palestinians, even as they fight patriarchy and imperialism, are themselves subjected to an "e;empire of critique"e; from Israeli and Palestinian institutions, Western academics, journalists and filmmakers, and even fellow activists. Such global criticism has limited growth and led to an emphasis within the movement on anti-imperialism over the struggle against homophobia. With this book, Sa'ed Atshan asks how transnational progressive social movements can balance struggles for liberation along more than one axis. He explores critical junctures in the history of Palestinian LGBTQ activism, revealing the queer Palestinian spirit of agency, defiance, and creativity, in the face of daunting pressures and forces working to constrict it. Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique explores the necessity of connecting the struggles for Palestinian freedom with the struggle against homophobia.

Introduction: "there is no hierarchy of oppressions"
Chapter 1: LGBTQ Palestinians and the Politics of the Ordinary
Chapter 2: Global Solidarity and the Politics of Pinkwashing
Chapter 3: Transnational Activism and the Politics of Boycotts
Chapter 4: Media, Film, and the Politics of Representation
Chapter 5: Critique of Empire and the Politics of Academia
Conclusion: "we were never meant to survive"