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Many times have I posted here about the Jerusalem Pride Parade, but I think that the latest developments should be of interest (and concern).
This year's Pride Parade in Jerusalem was originally scheduled to take place last August as part of the World Pride Week, but was cancelled at the last minute because of the war with Lebanon. The police agreed to reschedule it for this coming Friday (10th November).
Over the past month from extremist religious circles there has been increasing violence and vitriolic threats if the parade takes place. These circles include Moslems and Christians, but the overwhelming majority are ultra-orthodox Jews. They have been creating street disturbances, they have been setting fire to rubbish bins, they have been pelting the police with stones and they have threatened violence throughout the land if the parade goes ahead in Jerusalem as planned.
The Supreme Court of Justice had ruled that the police must permit the parade to take place, but left them a loophole: the police could withdraw the permit if human life or mayhem were threatened. After the extremely violent actions taken by the religious fundamentalists it was no surprise to anyone that the Jerusalem police capitulated and asked the Attorney-General for permission to withdraw the permit for the Parade.
The attorney-general surprised everyone by refusing to permit the cancellation of the parade. He told the Jerusalem police chief that capitulation to a campaign of organised violence was extremely dangerous to Israel's democracy and the parade must go ahead. He did agree, however, that the police enter into discussions with the Jerusalem Open House (the organisers of the event) to seek an alternative route for the parade which would be as far as possible from ultra-religious neighbourhoods, be they Jewish or Moslem.
It was announced today that the Open House had agreed that the parade would end up in the Government Compound (the equivalent of the White House or Downing Street). The route to the site of the demonstration has yet to be determined. The religious elements are furious (and that is an understatement) that all their threats have resulted in upscaling the event for the gay community who now, instead of demonstrating in a public park will be demonstrating in front of the government offices, not far from the Knesset itself - under police protection.
I am extremely proud of the mayor of my own town who has called upon all Israel's mayors to join the Jerusalem Pride Parade on Friday. What a wonderful woman she is.
I doubt that we have heard the last of this never-ending saga.
The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)
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Very interesting. I hope that all goes as well as it possibly can on Friday.
David
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I see from the BBC website ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6135778.stm ) that the Pride March was replaced by a rally on security grounds. While I think it's a pity - in that part of the point of Pride is to be publicly proud, rather than shutting oneself away - on this occasion it may well have been the best outcome possible. I hope everyone there had a really good time! And all credit to the authorities for enabling this event, despite the protests of the bigoted.
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King
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And they did march - and in Jerusalem.
J F R
The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)
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