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Last update - 05:32 21/06/2007 15 arrested protesting against Jerusalem Gay Pride parade By Yuval Yoaz, Yair Ettinger and Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent Fifteen arrests were made as hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protesters threw stones, prompting police to use water cannons against them at a demonstration in Jerusalem early Thursday, against the Gay Pride march planned for later on Thursday. The protest erupted after Israel's High Court cleared the way for the march on Thursday by dismissing an appeal against it by right-wing groups. The High Court decision was published late Wednesday. The parade is set for a short route past the historic King David hotel to a nearby park, where a gathering is to be held. Advertisement Every year, the parade sparks a heated reaction from religious Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ultra-Orthodox Jews have rioted repeatedly against the march over the past week, burning tires, assaulting policemen and damaging police cars. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said 22 policemen were injured in the riots, and 110 people were arrested. Jerusalem's annual Gay Pride parade has been a relatively modest affair, with none of the flamboyant costumes or nudity common at similar events elsewhere in the world, or even in the nearby Israeli city of Tel Aviv. At the 2005 march, an ultra-Orthodox man stabbed and wounded three marchers. The 5,000 marchers expected Thursday will be guarded by 7,000 law enforcement personnel, Rosenfeld said. Because of security concerns, he said, the parade route is only 500 meters (yards) long. Last year, security concerns led to cancellation of the parade. Instead, gays held a closed festival at a Jerusalem sports stadium. Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski implored the court to cancel the parade in a personal message, though this contradicts the municipality's official stance. "The Jerusalem municipality's management regards this parade as a severe provocation, harmful to the delicate balance between the different interests of the city's various population groups," said Lupolianski's note. "The city's management therefore calls upon the court to cancel the parade and prevent violence." Underscoring his views, ultra-Orthodox demonstrators protesting the parade confronted police Tuesday night in the capital's Mea Shearim neighborhood. Earlier this month, however, the municipality adopted an official stance that runs contrary to Lupolianski's position: It decided that there was no reason for the city to prevent the parade from taking place. Jerusalem police work to combat threats of violence Jerusalem police on Wednesday detained three men in their 20s who were suspected of preparing caltrops and planning to place them on the road during the Gay Pride parade. Police also found 60 tires hidden in the Gilo neighborhood and suspect that residents were planning on burning them at the parade. The police have completed security preparations for the event, which will begin at 17:00 on Thursday. The parade will commence at the intersection of Hess and King David streets in Jerusalem and continue towards Liberty Bell Park. They have also completed security preparations for the Ultra-Orthodox counter-protest which will take place at the same time at the intersection of Jaffa and Sarei Yisrael streets. A temporary police headquarters will be established near the parade's route. The High Court refuses right-wing petitions against parade The High Court on Wednesday cancelled three petitions for the parade's cancelation which were under review since Tuesday. One was filed by the Kochav Echad nonprofit organization, the second by Industry Minister Eli Yishai, who heads the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party Shas, and the third by right-wing activists Itamar Ben-Gvir and Baruch Marzel. All three petitions demanded that the parade be canceled on the grounds that it would offend the religious community's sensibilities. Ben-Gvir and Marzel initially requested that their petition be reviewed by a different bench, but their request was rejected. Originally, they claimed, the panel was to have comprised Justices Edmond Levy, Elyakim Rubinstein and Joseph Elon - all of whom are either religious or from a religious family - but an "unknown party" replaced that panel with one comprised of Deputy High Court President Eliezer Rivlin, Justice Ayala Procaccia and High Court President Dorit Beinisch. Before rejecting their request for a different bench, Beinisch told Ben-Gvir and Marzel: "You may consider yourselves honored to have your request reviewed by the current panel." During the hearing, the justices urged the Jerusalem Open House to give the event a restrained and modest character. Ben-Gvir argued that "a march through the streets of Jerusalem would almost certainly generate violent rioting. The parade would offend hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox and traditional Jews, as well as Christians and Arabs." As police were completing their deployment in Jerusalem in an effort to ensure the safety of tomorrow's parade, ultra-Orthodox activists from the fundamentalist Edah Haredit sect continued to stage violent protests in Mea Shearim. In contrast, leaders of the mainstream factions of the ultra-Orthodox community instructed their followers to refrain from participating in protests against the parade, citing "educational damage to the community." Jerusalem municipality still has not hung up Gay Pride parade flags The Jerusalem Municipality has yet to put up Gay Pride flags along the route of the planned Gay Pride parade scheduled for Thursday, despite what the Jerusalem Open House called an "explicit promise to do so by [Wednesday] morning at the latest." City officials said they had intended to hang the flags on Thursday morning, for fear anti-Gay Pride protestors will vandalize them overnight, but following a threat by the Open House that it would file a petition with the High Court of Justice, agreed to hand out the flags Wednesday afternoon. In a letter sent to Mayor Uri Lupolianski, Open House attorney Gilad Barnea accused the mayor of "trying to disrupt and sabotage the ongoing preparations" for the parade. The Jerusalem Municipality said in response that it was acting in accordance with High Court decisions In recent years, the municipality has repeatedly committed itself to hanging the Gay Pride flags - as it does with the flags of other groups that hold events in the capital - only to fail to do so. Shahar Ilan and Yair Ettinger contributed to this articl Bookmark to del.icio.us   Pride of Shas Shas MK: Gays are causing Israeli society to self-destruct. In bad taste Local Jewish group protests 'Holocaust float' at Rio Carnival.   1.   Freedom and Democracy for all 06:34  |  SJ 20/06/07   2.   Parade 11:30  |  Bob 20/06/07   3.   the parade should stay out of Jerusalem 12:03  |  justice 20/06/07   4.   Flags 12:59  |  Dani Reiss 20/06/07   5.   For sake of Democracy, the parade must go on 13:04  |  Alan Goldstein 20/06/07   6.   Jerusalem #3 13:08  |  j10 20/06/07   7.   Democracy = Religious Tolerance 13:21  |  Jonathan 20/06/07   8.   haaretz liberal left wingers 13:23  |  izzy d 20/06/07   9.   To #3 13:25  |  Lior 20/06/07   10.   #3 14:14  |  Penny 20/06/07   11.   THIS TELLS YOU ABOUT THESE CHILDREN... 14:49  |  pst 20/06/07   12.   GAY Parade 15:10  |  VoiceOfReason 20/06/07   13.   freedom and democracy for all liberals 15:17  |  tziporah heller 20/06/07   14.   arrogant intolerance 16:36  |  j10 20/06/07   15.   Haredim dont have the right to control other people`s lives 17:09  |  Joe 20/06/07   16.   Joe....liberal gay community doesnt have right to control hasidim 17:34  |  SHIMON 20/06/07   17.   Hypocritical gay pride parade 17:36  |  SHIMON 20/06/07   18.   Haredim dont own Jerusalem 17:52  |  AV 20/06/07   19.   We have freedom of religion but not FrOM it 17:53  |  Danny Soneh Dat 20/06/07   20.   freedom of expression should not be supressed by threats 18:03  |  mrs. defarge 20/06/07   21.   To all against #3, he is right. Orthodox deserve resect too!!!!!! 18:11  |  SHIMON 20/06/07   22.   Danny Soneh Dat..you want freedom FROM religion, dont march in je 18:13  |  SHIMON 20/06/07   23.   God requires free will. Jews must respect free will. 18:17  |  AV 20/06/07   24.   ORTHODOX DONT OWN JERUSALEM! 18:18  |  Joe 20/06/07   25.   Jews have a right to pray on the Temple Mount 18:21  |  AV 20/06/07   26.   joe, neither does the gay community 18:52  |  SHIMON 20/06/07   27.   #16 Who is trying to Control Who? 19:11  |  Kate 20/06/07   28.   #21 ...and what about Jerusalem Gays? 19:31  |  Kate 20/06/07   29.   Gays are allowed to walk in the streets for a political rally 20:17  |  Joe 20/06/07   30.   Where is Bible? 20:22  |  Irja 20/06/07   31.   Re #27: Absolute Truth: Torah or democracy? 21:51  |  Yaakov 20/06/07   32.   The Tora forbids idolatry only and DOESNT forbid homosexuality 23:14  |  AV 20/06/07   33.   Per Tora, homosexuality is fine 23:17  |  AV 20/06/07   34.   #32 AV - you should check facts before you shoot from hip 00:19  |  * BEN JABO 21/06/07   35.   Let the parade take place 00:23  |  * BEN JABO 21/06/07   36.   364 days the penquins rule, one day the rainbow 00:39  |  Tom Smitsloo 21/06/07   37.   Think 00:39  |  YM 21/06/07   38.   To #32 and #33 Av 00:51  |  Besalel 21/06/07   39.   Gay Disagrees 01:35  |  Isaac 21/06/07   40.   The shemale parade will be cancelled 01:48  |  Moishe Itzikson 21/06/07   41.   were here and we are queer 02:11  |  alan 21/06/07   42.   To Danny Soneh Dat 02:38  |  Boruch 21/06/07   43.   I`m a Christian not a Jew 02:45  |  Kevin Spacey 21/06/07   44.   Let them march in MOSCOW.... 02:56  |  Tom 21/06/07   45.   Amazing They Can Fight Gays But Not Serve in The IDF 03:17  |  Yoram 21/06/07   46.   #27 Kate no it isn`t 03:44  |  Zephraim Cochrane 21/06/07   47.   march 05:20  |  anon 21/06/07   48.   #46 Cochrane 07:22  |  * BEN JABO 21/06/07   49.   sodom and gomorrah 20:01  |  Eli Rabbinov 30/01/08

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