Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem

I recently covered the annual Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem for Time.com. We ended up profiling Nitzan Horowitz, the first openly gay politician to be elected to the Israeli Knesset. There was another openly gay MP before him, named Uzi Even, but he wasn't elected.

This was by far the tamest parade in recent history. The Haredi, or ultra-orthodox sect, which generally stirs up the most vitriolic protests, were commanded by their rabbis not to go near the parade. They did this for two main reasons: 1. The rabbis realized that the more they protest, the more media attention the parade gets. 2. The rabbis are embroiled in another fight over a public parking lot, therefore they wanted to direct the anger of their legions towards that instead.

What was surprising was to see a face from another sector of Jewish fundamentalism leading the protest. Baruch Marzel, who organized the controversial march through Umm al Fahm earlier this year, received permission for 50 guys to protest against the Gay Parade in France Square. The religious Zionist settler from Hebron was responsible for bringing in the signs that said "Holyland, not Homoland."

Thankfully, there wasn't much violence this year. Only one incident of an egg being thrown was reported.


Here's the vid: