Winds of change blow in Jerusalem
Thousands of people marched through Jerusalem on Friday in the annual Pride parade, celebrating LGBTQ rights in the conservative city amid heavy police security.
Pride events in Israel’s capital, which is home to a large ultraOrthodox Jewish community, tend to be less raucous than those in more liberal Tel Aviv. A radical stabbed a 16-year-old girl to death at a Pride event in 2015, an attack condemned across the political spectrum.
Only a few dozen people went to protest the parade this year, and were largely drowned out by music.
“I think we are getting better and better,” said one of the marchers, Fabio Abulafiya, while acknowledging that more needed to be done.
“It is very important to come to parades like this, not only to party . . . but also to protest for our rights.”
An alliance of far-right parties including openly homophobic candidates made a surprisingly strong showing in Israel’s parliamentary elections in March and were set to be a key component in a new government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
But his efforts to form a majority coalition failed, in part because the far-right parties refused to join with a small Arab party that emerged as a kingmaker of sorts.
A coalition opposed to Netanyahu is now on the verge of ending his
record-setting 12 years in office.
Jerusalem saw weeks of protests and clashes linked to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict that triggered an 11-day war in Gaza last month.
The situation has been mostly calm since a ceasefire took effect in Gaza on May 21.