The following blog post is from an individual who was part of the design and creation of this year's Pride tifo. Their name is withheld.

Here is why I admire and support this tifo: I was raised in a Jewish household. Though my upbringing was much more culturally rather than religiously Jewish, I have grown up owning my identity and the way it has shaped who I am. I have family that escaped antisemitism, and some who were not so lucky. I was raised with the understanding that even though my people have been treated so cruelly in the past, we should never repeat what has been done to us. I understand the pain and the anguish. I understand the anger. I understand the want to have a place, a homeland. But the acquiring and keeping of a “homeland” should never ever come at the expense of another people.

This conflict did not begin on Oct. 7, but now the world is paying attention. And my dream is that they see that no matter how you look at it, destruction and devastation of another peoples’ land should not be the way to find peace, to find grounding. You can want a place to belong while still understanding the terms of genocide. Wanting the end of this war does not mean wanting an end to the Jewish people.

As a Queer, Nonbinary, Jewish person, this tifo speaks to me on so many levels. It shows that we need to open our eyes to the devastation of a land and its people. People who make up so many differences and backgrounds, including being part of the LGBTQ+ community. No matter what, they are still there and being impacted, just like all Palestinians. There is no Pride in Freedom without freedom from genocide. My heart aches for all lives and land lost. There is absolutely nothing antisemitic about wanting people to live.

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