A Lebanese LGBTQ+ advocacy organization has been targeted by homophobic and racist cyber-attackers aligning themselves with the Israeli state.
"[Expletive] off homos," is now the greeting for anyone accessing the website of the Lebanese Medical Association for Sexual Health (LebMASH).
Below the large white typography, the hateful message continues saying: "We are your father. Kneel down in front of your father. Remembered #OpIsrael? Time to pay. Stay out of Israel. That's an order. Or we will [expletive] you up."
The message then continues with the hashtags "[expletive] Palestine" and "[expletive] Lebanon." It appears the hackers refer to themselves as "Legion."
An animated GIF of the Israeli flag is the final touch in the hateful message.
Were the hackers Israeli?
LebMASH told StepFeed that it has not yet been able to identify who the attackers are.
"We had received some negative messages on Facebook in the past, but this is the first time we get attacked," Dr. Omar Fattal, a board member of LebMASH, told StepFeed.
"We are very disappointed that whoever attacked us did not have the courage to contact us directly to discuss any differences of opinion they might have with us," he said.
While it remains unclear whether the hack comes directly from Israelis or the their supporters, the message of the hack remains clear. Homosexuals, Palestinians and Lebanese are all targeted by the hate.
The Israeli state and many Israelis have often portrayed themselves as supporters of LGBTQ+ rights. Tel Aviv's gay party scene is legendary among queer travelers. But activists also strongly criticize Israeli "pinkwashing," or efforts to highlight societal progress towards the LGBTQ+ community to hide the nation's racist and apartheid policies toward Palestinians, Arab Jews and Black Jews.
"Pinkwashing plays on racist stereotypes – that Muslims and Arabs are all violently homophobic and transphobic, while Israelis are western and 'civilized'," No To Pinkwashing, a UK-based activist organization, says on its website.
The attack comes after a high-profile campaign organized by LebMASH
In the middle of March, LebMASH organized its first-ever LGBT health week, focusing on the community's marginalization in Lebanon and how it negatively impacts health.
"Our campaign was titled 'marginalization is bad for health' and aimed at raising awareness on the negative effects of marginalization and discrimination on the health of LGBT people," Fattal said.
"We are a small organization operating on a very small budget. An attack like this has made a dent in our budget, since now we are forced to spend a large amount of money rebuilding and fortifying our website," he said.
Fattal said that the attack resulted in the "total destruction" of the website.