It is pinkwashing. By pushing the fact that Israel treats it gays and lesbians better than the rest of the Arab world, it hides the fact that queers had to fight for their rights in Israel, that oppression is still institutionalised.
Um,
of course they had to fight for their rights.
That's why there are delegates devoted to the cause. Oppression is still institutionalized in a lot of places in America too, but you don't see American LGBT leaders getting turned away for that.
It tries to hide the fact that orthodox Jews are quite homophobic
This is common knowledge to anyone who knows about the various denominations of Judaism.
and that the West Bank decriminalised sodomy in the 1950s.
Well, mazel-fucking-tov. Good for them. But in the article, the delegates also explain how their organization helps not just Israeli teens, but Palestinian teens as well. It's almost as if maybe, just maybe,
there are some Israelis actually care about Palestinians.There is no evidence that
1) These delegation members support the occupation of Palestine or
2) That they are pushing for LGBT rights in Israel to cover it up.
Stop jumping to conclusions.
Pointing out Israel's accomplishments in LGBT rights does not make it immune from criticism of its other crimes. You, of all people, should understand this.
Groups turned away South African sports teams and cultural groups during their Apartheid era, what is so different about this?
Frankly, turning away the South African sports teams was wrong. It's okay to disagree with a country's foreign policy. However, it is not okay to discriminate against other people on account of them coming from that country. We do not know whether or not this delegates, if any, support the occupation. Jumping to the conclusion that Israeli = Machiavellian asshole is the same kind of bigotry that you have accused a lot of Zionists of.
That said, given how LGBT people are still fighting for actual equality and recognition in all nations, denying the delegates from attending seems completely counterproductive to any cause.
This.