News
2006-02-02
Israeli court
convicts antigay extremist
An Israeli
criminal court on Tuesday convicted a religious extremist of
attempting to kill marchers in last year's gay pride parade.
An Israeli
criminal court on Tuesday convicted a religious extremist of
attempting to kill marchers in last year's gay pride parade.
The district court in Jerusalem convicted an
ultra-Orthodox Jew of attempted murder, sabotage, and
injury as a result of stabbing three people at
Jerusalem's gay pride event. The defendant, a settler from
Kiryat Sefer in the West Bank, showed no remorse as the
verdict was read.
Six months ago, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews
lined up along the parade route to protest against the
gay march. Bottles of urine and bags of feces were
hurled at the marchers. One of the protesters, 30-year-old
Yishai Schlisel, attacked a group of marchers with a kitchen
knife, its blade more than eight inches long. Two
marchers were superficially wounded, and one was
stabbed in the chest.
To his police interrogators, Schlisel said that
he came to murder on behalf of God. On Tuesday,
Schlisel refused to talk to reporters, saying he would
not give interviews to those who are anti-Jewish.
Members of Jerusalem Open House, who organized
the parade, said Tuesday that the decision was a
victory not only for gays and lesbians but also for
the rule of law and democracy. They said that the World Gay
Pride Parade will take place this August in Jerusalem
because attempts to terrorize the gay community have failed.
The prosecutor is expected to request the
district court to sentence Schlisel to at least 10
years. (Sami Sockol, Sirius OutQ News)
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