Gay Rights Rally Draws Thousands

by Matt Lebovic [➚] · Friday, November 10th, 2006

HaDag Nahash perform at today’s gay pride rally in Givat Ram

After weeks of ultra-Orthodox hate rhetoric and threats, Jerusalem’s GLBT community and its supporters held a peaceful “Pride” rally at the city’s Hebrew University Givat Ram Stadium on Friday afternoon. The somewhat secluded venue was a last-minute compromise between organizers and police in light of threats of violence from the city’s ultra-Orthodox community and a national terror alert related to events in Gaza.

More than 4,000 supporters attended the rally to urge increased tolerance in Judaism’s holiest city and human rights for all individuals. Secured by 3,000 police officers, the event’s subdued nature was due in part to ultra-Orthodox leaders calling on followers to read psalms at synagogues instead of attacking gays, as has been previously encouraged. Attendees filled a portion of the large sports stadium, waving a multitude of signs, banners and – of course – rainbow paraphernalia.

As with American “Pride” demonstration, representatives from a host of Leftist causes mixed with the crowd. Popular topics included peace with the Palestinians, an end to Orthodox homophobia, and rejection of militarism. Attendees were treated to performances by HaDag Nahash (“The Snakefish”), an internationally-known Israeli hip-hop band, as well as speeches from community and civil rights leaders.

Due to security threats and the last-minute venue change, rally attendance was less than expected, with police officers and journalists almost outnumbering participants. Though the original parade was cancelled and today’s rally took place far from downtown Jerusalem, Orthodox leaders nonetheless saw fit to condemn any display of tolerance and diversity. “If it was up to me, I would send the gay community to Sodom and Gomorrah,” Shas Chairman Eli Yishai told Israel Radio on Friday.

Visit Matt’s blog at mattlebovic.blogs.friendster.com.

Black Hats Set Jerusalem Ablaze

by Matt Lebovic [➚] · Tuesday, November 7th, 2006

You might have heard about the riots engulfing Jerusalem this week as the city’s ultra-Orthodox population vents its rage leading up to Friday’s Demonstration for Pride and Tolerance (aka, the Gay Parade).

Sadly, the virtues many of us learned in Jew School – such as tolerance, pluralism and respect for “the other” – are too much for Jerusalem’s holy homophobes to handle. We should note that most of the men setting dumpsters on fire, blocking roads, and pelting pedestrians with stones, don’t have much else to do on a day-to-day basis. As ultra-Orthodox men, few of them hold jobs, pay taxes, or serve in the army, like every other Israeli. Their “job” is the Torah, whose message of peace and respect for all human beings has been quite lost on them.

This week, the “eternal capital of the Jewish people” is filled with posters offering $5,000 for anyone who murders a homosexual. The Council of Rabbis in Judea and Samaria, a settler movement rabbinic body, plans a prayer rally atop the Temple Mount on Thursday morning in response to the “menacing plot” hatched by Jerusalem gays. Most excitingly, Rabbis of the “Pulsa D’nura” (“Blows of Fire”) sect are gearing up for a kabbalistic ceremony in which unearthly powers will be unleashed against the city’s gays. What would Madonna say about this flagrant misuse of Kabbalah?

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