Thursday, June 25, 2009

Gay Pride march today in Jerusalem

It appears that today's gay pride march in Jerusalem will be quiet - the Haredi rabbis have decided not to demonstrate against it: Jerusalem expects unprecedented calm at Pride Parade.

A report from last week's Ynet said:
Jerusalem's Pride Parade is scheduled to take place next week, but this year, three years after the international gay pride events that sparked the city, and after two years of more minor protests, the rabbis of the city's ultra-Orthodox community have decided not to demonstrate against the parade.

Throughout the previous protests against the event, there have always been voices from within the community arguing that the educational damage caused by the demonstrations outweighed their good, and the Badatz rabbis have finally given in to such arguments.
A couple of Kahanist extremists, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Baruch Marzel, are unhappy that the haredi rabbis have decided not to oppose the march, and apparently are using the march as an excuse to make trouble in some of Israel's Arab towns.
Right-wing activists led by Knesset Member Michael Ben Ari (National Union) have decided to protest coming Thursday's Gay Pride Parade, scheduled to take place in Jerusalem, by staging a march of their own – in various Arab towns....

Ben Ari, along with extreme right-wing activists Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben Gvir have formulated an organized response to what they call the "profanity parade" and they intend to ask the police for a permit to stage a march on 15 Arab towns, starting one month after Thursday's parade.

Permits will be filed for marches in Tayibe, Sakhnin, Nazareth, Ar'ara and Baka al Garbia, to name a few. The activists are also planning to stage a picket line in front of the Open House and have hundreds of their supporters perform public information activities in city schools on the day of the parade.
It's hard to imagine that the police would want to give them permits to march in these Arab cities. I haven't heard whether they're demonstrating in front of the Open House today, because I've been sitting in my house all day. It's a really hot day outside and much cooler inside! I am planning to go to the march, however, and will post photos later today.

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