"A pinkwash? Hogwash"

The International Herald Tribune (The New York Times international edition), published my letter yesterday.  This is unusual, as they don't often publish letters that are not pro-Palestinian or are critical of Islam.  So I guess I should say: good on 'yer!  Click the logo for link to the letter.  The Pinkwash article is here.  Another great critique is here.
Update 2 Dec: a number positive resonses, eg: I wanted to congratulate you on your New York Times letter. It was a very well articulated response. Thank you! Kind regards, Erica L. November 28, 2011

A Pinkwash? Hogwash

Regarding Sarah Schulman’s “Israel and ‘pinkwashing”’ (Views, Nov. 24): For some people Israel can do no right. Israel is the only gay-friendly country in the Middle East, but for Ms. Schulman that’s just a smokescreen for “co-opting” people into a pro-Israel stance. It is offensive to suggest that one can’t make a judgment on Israel because it’s gay friendly, that we are part of a “pinkwash.” Hogwash.

Israel remains the only true democracy in the Middle East; its Arab population is the most satisfied with its lot of any in the region.  Israel has offered Palestinians peace many times since 1947, always rebuffed, sometimes violently.

The fact that there are homosexuals in other Middle Eastern countries is irrelevant.  Of course there are: there are homosexuals in every society.  What matters is how they're treated.  The only place they are treated well, both in law and in practice, is Israel.  Yet for Ms. Schulman Israel is just out to "blind us".  Shame on her. 

Peter F, Hong Kong