Are "queers for Palestine"

really unaware that being gay or lesbian in Gaza is not acceptable? Are they aware that it could lead to their deaths if they openly acknowledged their sexuality in an Islamic country? Do they believe it does not somehow apply to them?

When I was very young homosexuality was still regarded as a criminal offence. My family actually lived next door to a male couple for a while. My memory of them is as perfectly ordinary, perfectly pleasant people who just happened to live together.  As an adult I wonder what sort of strain they were living under.  My mother certainly did not approve of them. We children were told not to talk to them. We did of course, children do. My very definitely heterosexual father was a great deal more tolerant and would often talk gardening issues with the older of the two men. 

Perhaps the interesting thing is that apparently nobody ever gave these men away. They were much more willing to accept what the older man gave away from the garden. I suppose he must have been retired. He seemed very old to me. He did not seem to go to work. The younger man did. He would ride off each day on his pushbike with his kitbag strapped to the back.

Although I cannot remember that much about them I do believe they would not have supported any political group like "queers for Palestine". None of the gay men I know, and I know quite a few, would support such a group. They come from across the political spectrum but none of them have time for this sort of "activism".  

It was only yesterday that one of them voiced his concern to me about the group as we waited in the queue at the Post Office. He spoke to me very quietly to say that a young lad we both know had been fortunate not to be badly injured in an attack on him by a group of youths. I had not heard about the incident. The boy in question is not gay. (He is, quite simply, just quiet. He has medical issues which in no way relate to his sexuality but do tend to keep him from the mainstream.) Apparently the mere thought this boy might be gay was enough for him to be the subject of an attack.

I have no doubt this boy's attackers believe they were justified and, given the opportunity, they would do it again. They have been taught to believe this. Are they likely to change? I doubt it. It will be deeply ingrained in their psyche by now.  

So why do groups like "queers for Palestine" exist? It seems to be such a contradiction. Do they also support wife beating?