It took a large dose of blindness to bring a liberal principle to the nadir of the amendment to the Jerusalem Law, which will serve as a springboard for more anti-pluralism laws.

The urge to "show them" and support the Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem proved to be an unnecessary blunder last year. This year it is deteriorating into an irrevocable error. The initial desire to demonstrate openness toward all human beings is becoming a destructive power struggle, which instead of moderating prejudices is making them more extreme.

People who raise the banner for freedom of expression, dialogue instead of force and other principles based on tolerance have chosen not to hear those who do not share their opinion. Their obstinacy can be compared to the religious community's demand to force the entire public to adhere to their faith, to refrain from eating pork and seafood, etc.

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One can understand the secular community's wish to bend the religious one. Secular people use a car in the absence of public transportation on the Sabbath, pay fines for opening businesses on the Sabbath and their matrimonial affairs are regulated by the rabbinate, which also does not recognize gay marriage.

Israel is defined as a Jewish state, a hybrid between civic legislation and religious practice. Gay marriage is not acceptable in Israel - as in most Western states - but the law addresses certain situations that discriminate against homosexuals, thus softening the loaded relations between religious and secular citizens, and between religion and homosexuals. In the last 20 years sodomy between consenting adults has been removed from the penal code, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the workplace has been prohibited and the rights of homosexual partners have been partially regulated (regarding common-law spouses, citizenship and economic matters).

Homosexuals live in Israel peacefully most of the time, as they do in other Western countries, if they are willing to accept that. In Israel, as in the rest of the world, large cities serve as a refuge to those who do not belong to the majority or even to half of the population.

The large city of Jerusalem is an exception, and the gay community would have done better to accept this instead of trying to do the impossible. Jerusalem is the capital of three religions that see homosexuality as a sin. Why do the very people whom the religious community does not want to see have to demonstrate in the city? What's wrong with Hayarkon Park?

Instead of living in peace with the environment the organizers of the Pride Parade have managed to march 20 years backward. Perhaps they, too, are captives of the Israeli "in your face" method. The problem is that this method is now blowing up not only in their faces but also in the face of Israeli society in general.

Amending the "Jerusalem Law" may be an opening for anti-liberal laws. The insistence on bending the religious community bears a heavy price. The religious community has never renounced legislation initiated by its representatives. Not only will they not renounce it, but now their way is also open and clear to object to the very presence of homosexuals as equal citizens.

It is astonishing that liberals who are ready to negotiate with their worst enemies refuse to do so with their own compatriots. In both cases this would not be a dialogue marking the beginning of a wonderful friendship, but of a shared life, which circumstances are forcing on both sides. All it takes is a little tolerance, which is as vital as a breath of fresh air in our aggressive environment.

The author is head of the Communications Department at Sapir College.