A Gay Pride parade proceeded without incident in Jerusalem after attempts to stop it were unsuccessful.
The annual march was held Thursday despite opposition from the municipality, led by its fervently Orthodox mayor, Uri Lupolianski, after Israel’s Supreme Court ruled the event could go forward. The march has been plagued by violence in the past.
Some 3,000 marchers, protected by about 2,000 police officers, walked the half-mile route to the Liberty Bell Park under the banner of “Unconditional Love.”
The Jerusalem Open House, the Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transsexual community cneter in the capital, sponsored the event.
A coalition of haredi rabbis, not wanting to provide the event added publicity, decided not to demonstrate against the parade.
Several hundred anti-parade demonstrators did protest, however, in a neighborhood far from the march. Garbage cans were set on fire in some haredi neighborhoods. Christian and Muslim organizations also opposed the parade.
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