CONTACTAbout UsCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2025 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Israel's attorney general refused to ban a gay pride parade in Jerusalem despite threats of violence from ultra-Orthodox Jews, instructing police and gay activists to try to work out a compromise, the police commander said Sunday. A Justice Ministry statement said Attorney General Meni Mazuz ordered police to meet with gay activists ''to work out a reasonable alternative proposal'' for the march, set for Friday on a route through the middle of the city. The meeting is to take place Monday, gay activists said, and a compromise was likely.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews have rioted in Jerusalem nearly every night over the past week, burning garbage cans, blocking roads, and assaulting police officers in an attempt to get the authorities to call off the march, approved months ago by the supreme court. Many religious Jews, Muslims, and Christians see homosexuality as a sin and the march as an affront to the sanctity of the holy city.
Police said Sunday that the danger of violence was too great to allow the march to proceed, but they left the final decision to Mazuz. ''We understand that the potential danger to life and bloodshed is greater than that to free speech,'' said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
Ella Canetti, one of the organizers of the gay pride march, said they would meet police on Monday and were willing to be flexible. ''We are prepared to alter the route of our march to meet police concerns,'' she told the Associated Press. ''According to what we understand, a modest gay pride march will take place in Jerusalem.''
After meeting Mazuz, Jerusalem police commander Ilan Franco said, ''It may be that there will be a march and a closing event at a place which both sides decide is reasonable and minimizes potential damage and danger.''
But it was unclear whether such a compromise would satisfy the ultra-Orthodox Jewish opponents. At last year's march, an ultra-Orthodox man stabbed and wounded three participants.
There was some dissent Sunday among gay activists. Saar Nathaniel, a gay member of Jerusalem's city council and one of the march's planners, suggested Sunday that gay activists cancel the march in return for ultra-Orthodox members of parliament supporting gay rights legislation.
A gay columnist in the liberal Haaretz daily called on organizers to show sensitivity for Jerusalem's special status as a city holy to three faiths and move the march to the more permissive Tel Aviv.
Jerusalem police said six policemen have been hurt in the clashes over the past week and 60 rioters have been arrested. Over the weekend the disturbances spread outside Jerusalem to the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, where rioters blocked one of Israel's main highways with burning tires. (AP)
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
31 Period Films of Lesbians and Bi Women in Love That Will Take You Back
December 09 2024 1:00 PM
18 of the most batsh*t things N.C. Republican governor candidate Mark Robinson has said
October 30 2024 11:06 AM
True
After 20 years, and after tonight, Obama will no longer be the Democrats' top star
August 20 2024 12:28 PM
Trump ally Laura Loomer goes after Lindsey Graham: ‘We all know you’re gay’
September 13 2024 2:28 PM
These 15 major companies caved to the far right and stopped DEI programs
January 24 2025 1:11 PM
True
Latest Stories
DOJ drops suit alleging Utah discriminated against trans inmate
February 12 2025 6:56 PM
Army memo sends mixed signals to transgender service members
February 12 2025 5:42 PM
Elon Musk and Sam Altman are fighting — The billionaire beef explained, plus the funniest moments
February 12 2025 4:37 PM
New Hampshire student athletes move to challenge Trump's anti-trans sports order
February 12 2025 4:16 PM
Trump’s Department of Education wants NCAA to strip awards, records from trans student-athletes
February 12 2025 2:47 PM
Indiana State University sued for blocking LGBTQ+ Pride festival
February 12 2025 12:59 PM
Opinion: Donald Trump and Elon Musk are just childish bullies
February 12 2025 12:12 PM