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. 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)