An LGBTQ+ running club has been slammed after allegedly banning a photographer for refusing to say he was pro-Palestine.
The Queer Running Club (QRC) has been accused of discriminating against photographer Omer Ga’ash after agreeing to work with him on a photoshoot of one their events in east London before later pulling out, the Telegraph reports.
Mr Ga’ash said he would do the photoshoot for free in return for his credit on the photos, which could have gotten him paid work from other customers.
But one day before the planned photoshoot, QRC allegedly asked Mr Ga’ash – who is from Israel but has lived in the UK for years – whether he was pro-Palestine.
When Mr Ga’ash replied that he kept his views separate from his work and that he loves the ‘queer community despite any differences we may have’, QRC said they would have to postpone the shoot since they ‘aren’t in a position to be able to separate our politics from our running’.
The Queer Running Club (QRC) had agreed to work with Omer Ga’ash on a photoshoot of one of the club’s events in east London (file image of the running club’s shirts)
QRC has been accused of discriminating against Mr Ga’ash by postponing the planned work based on his beliefs.
‘I want to be part of my community and be known for my artistic and professional work, not for my politics. I was trying to help Queer Running Club promote their work,’ Mr Ga’ash told Telegraph.
‘I don’t want to be forced to take sides on an issue like Palestine. I’m not a spokesperson for anybody.’
The club has even been reporting to the Quality and Human Rights Commission for allegedly breaching the Equality Act 2010 by UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI).
UKLFI claim that QRC discriminated against Mr Ga’ash by not offering him employment and dismissing him, which resulted in him not getting to opportunity to get future paid work off the back off the photos from the shoot.
‘It is very sad that an LGBTQ+ group feels they can discriminate against Israeli members of their own community,’ Caroline Turner, UKLFI’s director, told the Telegraph.
QRC gets a grant from ‘Pride in London’ (PiL), which specifically says it will not fund projects ‘that are exclusionary of members of the LGBT+ community’, which UKFLI says QRC did by excluding a Jewish Israeli member of the LGBTQ community.
But PiL said that there was no suggestion that QRC specifically excluded ‘an entire subset of the community’ and thereby breached PiL’s grant conditions.
QRC says on its website that it is ‘political by its very nature’.
‘When queer people support one another it’s a political act of radical care against systemic oppressions that have historically held our community back, trivialised our experience and marginalised our existence,’ the club adds.
The Human Rights and Equalities Commission is now reportedly considering whether to take any action against the running club, the Telegraph reports.
MailOnline has contacted QRC for comment.
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