Reinforced by a strong police presence,
thousands of people marched through Jerusalem Thursday as the city's
gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender community held their annual
Pride Parade.
A police spokesman said hundreds of extra police officers had been
drafted in to ensure the parade passed without incident. Police
expected around 5,000 marchers, he said.
The marchers walked slowly through the streets from the city's
Independence Park to Liberty Bell Park behind a banner proclaiming,
in English, Hebrew and Arabic, "The Jerusalem March for Pride and
Tolerance."
Many of the participants held their own banners or waved flags of
different colours, with the gay rainbow flag prominent.
Somebody unidentified also over-painted a large Hebrew sign saying
"Welcome to Jerusalem," which stands at the city's western entrance,
in the rainbow colours.
A spokeswoman for the Jerusalem Open House, which serves as the
local gay pride center, said the centre had no knowledge of the
painting.
Thursday's march was the 10th annual pride parade in Jerusalem.,
The march in the city is generally far more controversial than its
Tel Aviv counterpart, where the annual pride parade is attended by
scores of thousands of participants.
Tel Aviv is seen by many as a world gay capital and a "bubble" of
tolerance in a region otherwise hostile to homosexuals.
That image was tarnished in 2009 when a gunman shot dead a
26-year-old man and a 17-year-old woman, and injured 11 others, at a
community centre for homosexuals in the Mediterranean metropolis'
centre. The crime, described as the most homophobic in Israel's
history, has not been solved.
In Jerusalem, three gay marchers were stabbed and injured by
religious zealots during the 2005 parade.
In 2006, large ultra-Orthodox protests against the gay parade
erupted, with religious Jews taking to the streets of Jerusalem for
several nights, burning rubbish bins and hurling objects at police.
The protests also spread to the ultra-Orthodox Tel Aviv suburb of
Bnei Brak.
Police that year had to force organizers to hold the event in a
secured, closed stadium instead.
Last year, an ultra-Orthodox protestor was arrested after he threw
several bags of liquid at the marchers.
