Thursday's gay pride parade in Jerusalem was said to be the biggest in the 15-year history of the march. Although the event was marred by an attack by a Jewish extremist last year, this year there were no reports of violence.
It hasn't even started yet, and we've just been informed that this is the largest Jerusalem Pride ever. #JLMPride pic.twitter.com/Peij7XUIWg
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) July 21, 2016
As many as 25,000 people came out in support of the event, according to local reporters:
25,000 (!!!) attend #Jerusalem pride parade under heavy security https://t.co/AFOQNDtSQb via @timesofisrael #JerusalemPride
— Tamar Pileggi (@TamarPileggi) July 21, 2016
The mayor of Jerusalem said he would not march in the parade to avoid “offending” to the city’s religious community:
#Jerusalem's mayor Nir #Barkat will avoid #gay pride parade to not upset city's religious right https://t.co/siLvTJ30BI
— Anne-Marie O'Connor (@theladyingold) July 21, 2016
Israel’s prime minister, however, offered words of support to those who attended the march.
PM Netanyahu: I ask you to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the LGBT community. #JerusalemPridehttps://t.co/xLLWbUHZUY
— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) July 21, 2016
“Loving someone should never mean a life of fear or terror,” prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, ticking off a list of anti-gay attacks by Muslims recently, including Daesh (also known as Islamic State) throwing gay men off rooftops in Syria and Iraq, and the shooting of a gay nightclub in Orlando in June that left 49 people dead.
Though Netanyahu chose to focus on homophobia in the Muslim community, it’s attacks by Jewish extremists that marchers in Jerusalem fear most.
Last year, during the Pride Parade in the city, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man named Yishai Schlissel went on a stabbing spree that left Shira Banki, 16, dead. Six others were wounded in the attack.
Schlissel said he was only “doing God’s will.” He had recently been released from prison for having carried out a similar attack in 2005.
Israeli police said Schlissel enlisted his brother from prison to attack the parade on Thursday. Police said they arrested Michael Schlissel and detained other members of the family. Michael Schlissel denied planning any violence.
Yishai Schlissel, the guy who already attacked the Jerusalem gay pride parade twice, tried to organize a third attack from jail police say.
— Joshua Davidovich (@JMDavido) July 21, 2016
Hunter Stuart
