Police arrest 30 as 25,000 march at J’lem gay parade
2 knives seized, no injuries reported • Barkat: I have chosen a different way to honor Shira’s memory
One year after the murder of Shira Banki, at least 30 suspects were arrested for attempting to disrupt Thursday’s Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade, which attracted a record 25,000 participants amid unprecedented security.
Following the 16-year-old’s death at the hands of religious zealot Yishai Schlissel last July, hundreds of heavily armed police officers, aided by a helicopter, cracked down on any disruptions, seizing two knives, police said.
Hours before the parade began at Liberty Bell Park, police said Schlissel – who stabbed Banki and six others days after being released from prison for committing a similar crime 10 years earlier – was rearrested for conspiring with his brother to carry out attacks from his cell at Ayalon Prison.
Holding a rainbow-colored flag, Omer Barsheshet, 16, said he traveled from Ashdod with his boyfriend for the parade to honor Banki’s memory.
“Last year Shira was murdered, and it’s super important for me to be in this place just to support the gay community,” he said.
“I am a little nervous, but the security here is f ****** crazy, so I feel safe.”
While waiting inside the cordoned-off park for the parade to begin, Sarah Shwarz, a heterosexual woman in her 60s, said she felt compelled to attend the procession because she is exasperated by the poor treatment of the LGBT community in Jerusalem.
“I’m very sick and tired of the atmosphere that we have here, and even though I’m older than the other participants, I felt the need to go on the street and show people that not all Israelis are intolerant and hateful,” she said.
“I have very good friends in the gay community, who I love, and I wanted to show them my support.”
Walking with a cane following a recent double-knee replacement surgery, Paul Jeselsohn, 66, said he traveled with his husband from New York to march in the parade after meeting with members of Jerusalem Open House, the capital’s sole gay advocacy group, at his LGBT synagogue in Manhattan, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah.
“They asked us not only for financial support, but to support them in this march because of what happened last year,” he said, noting that he flew to Israel with another gay couple who also attended. “So we planned this several months ago to support them.”
Yoav, a heterosexual Orthodox 19-year-old Kfar Saba resident, with a kippa and gay pride T-shirt, said homosexuality and Judaism do not conflict.
“As an Orthodox person, I should be supporting this parade and supporting the rights of gay people and equality in Israel – especially after the horrible murder of Shira Banki,” he said. “I see it as my religious duty to be here and support the [LGBT] community.”
Asked to comment about the vocal intolerance and condemnation from members of the ultra-Orthodox community, Yoav said such attitudes are antithetical to Jewish values.
“It’s horrible,” he said. “It’s ‘unreligious,’ it’s ungodly, and it’s disgusting to hear things like that. As a religious person, I think it’s your duty to support every minority group, and to help them get equality.”
Jerusalem resident Or Bitan, a 25-year-old lesbian, said she attended the parade with members of the gay youth organization IGY (Israel Gay Youth).
“I think this is the most important gay pride parade in Israel... because it is the most political one,” she said. “So, I think it can most influence the government and show that we are here in Israel, and that people can’t ignore us.
“We are here. This is who we are. And we’re not going to disappear. This is our country, as well. We serve in the army, and we pay taxes, just like everyone else, so it’s important to show ourselves.”
For his part, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, who was roundly condemned by left-wing politicians for not marching in the parade due to the offended sensibilities of his largely right-wing and haredi (ultra-Orthodox) constituency, said he “understood the pain and criticism” directed at him.
“I have chosen a different way of honoring the memory of Shira, who was a sweet, young girl murdered because of a boundless hatred,” Barkat said before the parade. “The Jerusalem district commander of the Israel Police [Asst.-Ch. Yoram Halevi] and I paid our respects to Shira by laying a wreath at the site where her life was cut short.
“I hope, with all my heart, that we come together, on this day, against every manifestation of incitement, hatred and violence, and that we unite around the right of every individual and community to exercise their freedom of expression, regardless of gender, race, or religion.”
Meanwhile, across the street from Liberty Bell Park, 200 meters from where Banki was murdered, dozens of members of the radical Jewish group Lehava and the haredi community loudly protested the march behind metal partitions manned by a dozen officers.
Holding a large placard reading “We stand strong for traditional marriage, preserving family sanctity, and giving every child an opportunity to have a father and mother,” Orthodox Jerusalem resident Yosef Shalom Rabin explained why he is protesting.
“What I’m upset about here is not so much that people have homosexual issues – I understand that God created some people like that,” he said, as a group of ultra-Orthodox Jews wearing in tefillin sang psalms.
“What I’m upset about is that people want to promote [homosexuality] as an ideology and try to make us recognize them as something normal, instead of accepting reality and realizing there’s a problem here... That’s outrageous and an abomination!
“These people suffer from an extreme case of Western liberalization, and see no lines and do anything they want. And it’s not by chance that almost every religion, not just Judaism, denounces homosexual relations.”
Chaim and Daniel, both 16, traveled to the protest from Modi’in.
“I’m here to protest something that is disgusting in the eyes of God, according to my religion, in the city of God, right in front of His face – like a kilometer away from the place where his Temple used to sit,” said Chaim.
“It bothers me because it is a slap in the face of God... If they want to be a gay person walking around Jerusalem by themselves and not showing off their sexuality, we don’t have a problem with it. But you don’t have to shove it in the face of God.”
Clarifying that he is not homophobic, Daniel said he also strongly objects to public displays of homosexuality.
“Mainly, my problem is that I don’t like seeing [homosexuality] in public, and they’re kind of parading it around, showing it today,” he said.
Benzi Gopstein, head of Lehava, which is openly anti-Palestinian and homophobic, said the police arrested several members of the organization.
“We think the holy city is not the place for a march like this,” said Gopstein. “This is a holy place... and the police arrested people wearing Lehava T-shirts, not allowing them to come to the demonstration.”
While Gopstein said he condemned the murder of Banki last year, he nonetheless described the parade as a “problem for Jerusalem,” adding that “the police should not allow this march.” •