With the crisis
in the Middle East approaching an all-out war between
Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, organizers of WorldPride in
Jerusalem have announced the cancellation of the pride
parade in August. But organizers vow that other events
in the festival will go on as planned.
In a statement
released Friday, Jerusalem Open House cochair Hagai El-Ad
said, "These are not the times for festivities." With a
large portion of the Israeli army massing along the
Lebanese border, WorldPride organizers said they were
forced to cancel the gay pride parade because there
aren't enough soldiers left to protect the marchers.
In a show of
unity atypical for the region, radical Jewish, Muslim, and
Christian groups all came together to condemn WorldPride and
threaten violence against anyone in the parade.
WorldPride insists that it is the threat of
war--not the threats of violence from extremist
clerics--that forced the parade's cancellation.
Many of the
WorldPride events will go on as planned, however, including
a multifaith gay clergy conference, a gay film
festival, and other activities. Cathy Renna,
spokeswoman for WorldPride, says that thousands are
still expected to attend those events, which will run on
schedule August 6-12.
WorldPride is
held in a different city around the globe every four years.
WorldPride postponed festivities in Jerusalem last summer
after Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip. (Sirius
OutQ News)
