Jerusalem Pride March

Thousands gathered in Jerusalem’s Independence Park on Thursday 29 July for the start of the city’s annual Pride March. This year’s parade was particularly important, as it marked the one-year anniversary of the tragic shooting at Bar Noar, a Tel Aviv Gay and Lesbian Youth Center, which resulted in deaths of two teenagers and injury of eleven others.

The thousands of marchers walked the 1.5 miles from Independence Park to the Knesset to commemorate the lives lost and to demand equal rights, specifically access to health services, right to family, freedom from hate and freedom of identity.

The Jerusalem Pride March had a different atmosphere from others of its kind. Gal, a music student from Jerusalem, characterized the mood as filled with “joy and great fear.”

Jerusalem’s pride events officially began earlier in the day, during a festive meeting at the Jerusalem Municipality with a moment of silence in memory of those murdered. An empty chair reserved with the sign "Reserved for Mayor Nir Barkat" was placed in the meeting as an act of protest against the mayor's decision not to attend the gay pride events, according to the Israeli news daily Ynet.

"Even though the municipal government has changed, everything has stayed the same in terms of their treatment of the gay community. Jerusalem is a very unfriendly city to the gay community, and, unfortunately, the situation is severe," said Jerusalem Meretz Faction Chairman Yosef Alalu.

“Today is a day that recognizes that we are here and we are part of life in Jerusalem and not just on this day but on every day of the year,” said Alice Marcu, a psychology masters student at the Hebrew University, and organizer of The Other 10 Percent, an LGBT student group.

“We are remembering the homophobic murder that took place in Tel Aviv one year ago and we’re demanding our rights. And demanding a world in which things like that don’t happen anymore, where nobody has to pay for what they are,” she said.

Several marchers were physically attacked following the parade, and there were three anti-pride parades in various locations throughout the city as religious communities spoke out against what they term an “abomination.”

Michael, a young Jewish, Jerusalem resident said, “I am here show support to the gay community. I am here to say that the fact that Israel gives some privileges to Jewish men, or to Jews, is not going to prevent us from supporting minority communities in Israel: gay communities, Palestinians, refugees. We are all one, and they are part of our community.”

Chana Arnon, whose son is gay, was proud to be present at the parade. “Today the big news is that 100 orthodox rabbis from the US and Israel have come out in favor of accepting gays and lesbians into their communities. It’s a wonderful present for us,” she told the AIC.