AchtungBono
Refugee
Every year, the Israeli gay and lesbian community have the annual gay pride parade in Tel-Aviv. It is attended by thousands of the gay community and supporters.
This year, the organizers have decided to hold the parade in Jerusalem which ,as everyone knows, is Judaism's holiest city, as well as being the holy city for Christians and Muslims too.
While Israel is truly a democratic country, the decision to hold the parade in Jerusalem (which has a predominate ultra-religious community) has been met with controversy and violence from the religious communities (as you can see in the article below).
Personally, I have no problem with gay pride parades anywhere, however I think the decision to hold it in such a unique city as Jerusalem was in poor taste, to say the least. I think the organizers should have taken the feelings of the religious communities into account and move the parade elsewhere, in the interest of public safety.
In addition, the scheduled date of the parade (Nov.10) marks the anniversary of "Kristallnacht" - the night the Nazis went on a rampage and burned dozens of Jewish synagogues before WWII. Therefore, this is a very sensitive date.
As you can see, this issue is very controversial and we don't yet know how it will end. I'm hoping the organizers will use common sense and decide to move the parade elsewhere in order to avoid unnecessary violence.
What do you think?
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This is from the CNN website.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- 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 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 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.
This year, the organizers have decided to hold the parade in Jerusalem which ,as everyone knows, is Judaism's holiest city, as well as being the holy city for Christians and Muslims too.
While Israel is truly a democratic country, the decision to hold the parade in Jerusalem (which has a predominate ultra-religious community) has been met with controversy and violence from the religious communities (as you can see in the article below).
Personally, I have no problem with gay pride parades anywhere, however I think the decision to hold it in such a unique city as Jerusalem was in poor taste, to say the least. I think the organizers should have taken the feelings of the religious communities into account and move the parade elsewhere, in the interest of public safety.
In addition, the scheduled date of the parade (Nov.10) marks the anniversary of "Kristallnacht" - the night the Nazis went on a rampage and burned dozens of Jewish synagogues before WWII. Therefore, this is a very sensitive date.
As you can see, this issue is very controversial and we don't yet know how it will end. I'm hoping the organizers will use common sense and decide to move the parade elsewhere in order to avoid unnecessary violence.
What do you think?
+++++++
This is from the CNN website.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- 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 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 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.