Jerusalem gays
try again for pride parade

Jerusalem's gay pride organizers made an official request to the police Sunday to hold a pride parade June 21.

Jerusalem's gay residents tried to hold a parade in November, but the attempt was frustrated by ultra-Orthodox Haredi extremists who slammed the parade as an abomination.

Violent riots plagued the city, and as a result the parade changed routes and then was canceled altogether. Instead, a rally was held in a closed university stadium attended by more than 4,000 people under tight security.

The new proposal said that a Jerusalem pride parade is necessary because it preserves "the rule of law in Israel in general, and in Jerusalem in particular."

The proposal included a request to use a parade route that will start at the capital's Independence Park in the city center to Liberty Bell Park near the German Colony.

Ayelet Shnur, chairwoman of Jerusalem Open House, said the event will be open to anyone who supports sexual diversity. "This is the main human rights demonstration which will be held in Jerusalem this year, and it is planned for every citizen," she told YNet News.

Open House's director general, Noa Satat, said activists are determined to march despite the likelihood of violence. "I believe that this year there will again be an attempt to silence the community through violence, but we will not surrender to it," she told the Haaretz news agency Sunday. "It is the right of the proud community to march, and the police's job to defend those who follow the law from those who break it."

The request for a June parade is under review. (Hassan Mirza, Gay.com/U.K.)