Jerusalem Gay Pride March Draws 2,500

Hundreds of cheering gay activists marched through downtown Jerusalem on Thursday, while ultra-Orthodox Jews held a counter-demonstration across the city, burning tires and chanting psalms.

With police far outnumbering protesters, there was no violence during the brief Gay Pride parade, an annual event that highlights the deep divide between Jerusalem's secular and religious communities.

Gay activists clapped and sang on their trek of just a few hundred yards, passing in front of the historic King David Hotel. Police said 2,500 people took part.

Opponents claim the march debases the Holy City, while gay activists say they are exercising their civil rights. Some 7,000 police were deployed throughout the city to prevent the violence that has marked the Gay Pride march in past years.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews have rioted repeatedly in the past week, burning tires, assaulting policemen and damaging police cars. A 32-year-old ultra-Orthodox man was arrested Thursday morning carrying a homemade explosive device. Under questioning, the man said he wanted to plant the explosive along the parade route, said police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld.

Marchers carried multicolored balloons and posters of Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama. Three men wore matching pink T-shirts, shiny pink hats and carried pink lace umbrellas. On their shirts were written, "The Israeli Gay Party."

"I am demanding my civil rights, including the right get married and have children," said marcher Guy Frishman, 27. "I want to have rights like every other person."

A few tourists staying at the King David watched in curiosity, while the owners of nearby shops that sell Jewish religious items stood by silently with their arms folded.

Police arrested 19 anti-gay protesters who tried to reach the parade, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. A lone anti-gay protester scuffled with police, but there were no violent confrontations.

Organizers said they canceled a gathering in a park at the end of the truncated route because they were unable to get a permit from the fire department.

Across the city, several hundred ultra-Orthodox protesters held their demonstration, bringing traffic to a standstill at the main entrance to Jerusalem. Trash bins were set on fire, sending the stench of burning garbage wafting through the air.

Protest leaders chanted psalms through loudspeakers, and marchers waved banners saying "Shame" and "Israeli Supreme Court: Destroying the Holy City."

Opponents appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court to ban the Gay Pride march, but the justices ruled Wednesday night that it could go ahead.

In rioting earlier this week, 22 policemen were injured and 130 people were arrested, Rosenfeld said.

At the 2005 march, an ultra-Orthodox man stabbed three marchers. Last year, the street parade was canceled because of safety concerns, and gays celebrated instead at a sports stadium on the edge of the city.

The Gay Pride event routinely brings together the religious leaders of Jerusalem — known for their sharp disagreements on most political issues — in a consensus of condemnation.

On Thursday, Sheik Mohammed Hussein, mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, denounced the march and criticized the government for permitting it.

"Such a march contradicts all religions and morals and the natural human way of being," he said.

Many main streets in the downtown area were closed hours before the march, and public transportation was routed away from the city center. Ambulances stood by in anticipation of possible violence.

"Perhaps we should thank the ultra-Orthodox community for giving us what we want, which is visibility that will lead to a kind of acceptance of our place in this city," said Jerry Levinson, a gay activist.

He estimated that 60,000 gays live in metropolitan Jerusalem.

Jerusalem's Gay Pride parade has in the past been a relatively modest affair, with none of the flamboyant costumes or nudity common at similar events elsewhere in the world, or even in the nearby Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

The annual Gay Pride march in Tel Aviv usually proceeds without incident.