Thousands marched in central Jerusalem on Thursday for a milestone 10th anniversary Gay Pride parade, passing by the spot where an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed three participants in 2005.
Some carried rainbow banners and others had signs proclaiming: “A decade of marching in Jerusalem,” and: “Love thy neighbour.”
Opposition to such events is fiercer in Jerusalem, where religious feelings can run high, than in the more laid-back seaside city of Tel Aviv, but police were out in force to keep the peace.
“Several hundred police officers are securing the event and approximately 3,000 people are taking part,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.
“We’ll do everything to make sure that the event takes place as planned with no incidents.”
Participants mostly shunned the skimpy, gender-bending costumes common on the annual Tel Aviv parade and the march was routed away from predominantly ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods where opponents were holding a protest rally.
Source – AFP
