In light of the on-going hostilities in the region, the following statement
regarding WorldPride can be attributed to Hagai El-Ad, Executive Director of
Jerusalem Open House:
"In view of the current hostilities in northern Israel and in Lebanon, the
Jerusalem Open House, organizers of the forthcoming Jerusalem WorldPride
events, issued the following statement: "Our hearts go to all the people
affected by the violence, as we continue to hope that peace will prevail.
As Jerusalemites, we are acutely aware of the complexities of the reality
that we face in our city and in the region. We feel that these days,
optimistic messages speaking for tolerance and against violence -- as are
indeed the core messages of the Jerusalem WorldPride events -- are even more
significant than during calmer times. We are carefully monitoring the
situation, while continuing our work towards August 6, the opening date of
the Jerusalem WorldPride week. During the current hostilities, Jerusalem is
a calm spot, with a variety of public events going on as scheduled. We
advise our guests from around the world to follow the news together with us,
and hope together with us for peace."
Additionally, there is a more complete schedule of events at:
http://www.worldpride.net/index.php?id=680, or see below for text version.
As you know, there has been virulent and widespread opposition by religious
extremists of many denominations to WorldPride, but in recent days
pro-WorldPride grafitti declaring "God Wants Us Here" with the rainbow flag
has appeared in Jerualem. For high-resolution photos of these images or any
other related WP images please contact me at [email protected].
If you have any questions, do not hesitatite to conact me.
Best,
Cathy
Cathy Renna
Principal
Renna Communications
(917) 757-6123
[email protected]
Al Bawaba
