06.21.07
Jerusalem Pride goes ahead at last
Under heavy police guard, gay activists marched in a Pride parade in downtown Jerusalem on Thursday, sparking a noisy counter-demonstration by ultra-Orthodox Jews and denunciations by Muslim and Christian leaders.
A 32-year-old ultra-Orthodox man carrying what police called “a homemade explosive device” was arrested before the parade’s kickoff, and city officials forced the cancellation of a planned post-parade Pride rally, citing a slow-down strike by firefighters.
But no violence was reported during the late-afternoon event, a welcome change from previous years.
The activists, some wearing rainbow skullcaps or waving rainbow flags, cheered and sang as they walked just a few hundred yards along a street that passes in front of the historic King David Hotel.
Seven thousand police and 200 paramedics were deployed to protect an estimated 2,500 marchers.
“We came to defend an important cause: freedom of speech and democracy. Jerusalem is our capital as well and we have the right to march here,” tech professional Tal Weisberg told Agence France-Presse.