Gay Pride in Israel

A group of MPs, mostly religious, have decided to promote an amendment to the Jerusalem Basic Law that would ban the Gay Pride Parade from taking place in the city.

The lawmakers decided to sign a petition addressed to the chairman of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Menahem Ben Sasson, urging him to advance the bill that was submitted last year, yielding little progress since.

National Religious Party-National Union MP Eliyahu Gabbay, who initiated the amendment, said: It is unacceptable that Ben-Sasson stalls decisions that were made in a democratic procedure. It is an anti-democratic move. Personal considerations should stay away from the democratic process.

They also decided to protest the parade by holding ten mass demonstrations across the capital on the day it is due to take place.

National Union faction whip MP Uri Ariel said that the majority of Jerusalemites find the Pride Parade intolerable, and it shouldn't take place anywhere. But at least leave Jerusalem alone. The group also decided to ask the police to ban the parade, saying it would infringe on the public order.

Israel's Supreme Court refused Monday to issue an injunction barring gays from holding a pride march in Jerusalem this Thursday.

The ultra-right National Jewish Front and the city of Jerusalem filed separate briefs with the high court asking to have the parade cancelled.

The National Jewish Front in its brief called the parade a "a provocation". The brief filed by the city said it feared civil unrest.

During a hearing Monday Justice Ayala Procaccia said there must be a balance: between the desires of the gay and lesbian community to march, and the feelings of the city's residents. It is important that such parades become a matter of routine instead of causing a commotion every year.

In rejecting both applications to halt the parade the justices said they took into consideration the parade route, its expected duration and an undertaking by Jerusalem Open House, the parade organizer that the march would not be provocative in nature.

It was homosexual rights vs. religion last week in Jerusalem as some 3,000 Israelis joined a gay pride parade, marching with colorful balloons and dancing in the streets.

The march infuriated Orthodox Jews. Yonatan Gher, one of the parade organizers, said: The reason the march takes place in Jerusalem is not to upset anyone. We're here because we're Jerusalemites. This is our city as much as anybody else's.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews held counter-demonstrations, carrying signs that read: Sick perverts, get out of Jerusalem. Many agree with this man who says that the Bible describes homosexuality as an abomination.

The promotion of a gay lifestyle in the streets of Jerusalem, which is the holiest city for the Jewish people, [and] for the other religions - for Muslims, for Christians - it's a provocation said one Orthodox Jewish man.

The march ended up at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, with a memorial service for two Israelis who were killed in a shooting at a gay club in Tel Aviv last year. Gay rights activists like Gher say religious leaders should learn from that event.

When you keep talking about abomination and about the way the Bible looks at the issue of homosexuality, there are individuals out there who could turn those words into violence, said Gher.

To prevent violence, about 1,500 Israeli police officers guarded the Gay Pride Parade, which meant about one police officer for every two participants in the event.