J’lem: Thousands of haredim hold anti-gay rally

VIDEO - Thousands of ultra-Orthodox are holding a demonstration in Jerusalem Thursday evening in protest of the planned gay pride parade, which is scheduled to take place in the city next Friday. The rally marks the third straight day in which Jerusalem haredim are protesting against the parade. At around 9 p.m. ultra-Orthodox began to hurl stones from Tzfania Street toward the Bar-Ilan Road and set garbage cans ablaze. One police officer was hurt when a stone struck him in the head he was evacuated to a nearby hospital in light to moderate condition. Jerusalem police detained 16 haredim for questioning, under suspicion for rioting and throwing stones. During the protest, demonstrators threw metal bars, tear gas, stones and eggs. A police officer was injured in his face from an unidentified burning agent thrown on him by haredi protesters. He is being treated at the scene. Photo: Gil Yochanan Police forces dispatched to the scene are forcibly dispersing the crowd. Meanwhile, representatives of the gay rights group Open House are meeting with a number of prominent rabbis at the home of city council member Nir Barkat to discuss the bitter dispute surrounding the parade. No significant progress had been made as of yet, but the sides did agree not to legitimize violence in any way. Among the religious leaders on hand are Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu and Rabbi Shmuel Zaafrani, bureau chief of former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu. Photo: Gil Yochanan Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu even brought along his daughter to ‘prove to her that the Open House members are not the enemy.’ Host Barkat told reporters, “If we want to live in peace here, we must create dialogue that will eventually lead to co-existence.” He added that the sides would have to meet a few more times to reach an agreement. Rabbi Isser Klonski, who is participating in the talks, said, “Tonight we succeeded in arrived at open and candid dialogue, which we believe will dampen the flames.” Rabbi Klonski was asked to comment on an incident where an explosive brick with the words "Sodomites out" was discovered near the community police station in the West Bank settlement of Eli, and said that "we condemn this wholeheartedly. It is needless to say. There is no Rabbi in this country who thinks that it is acceptably to plant a bomb anywhere. "There is no person who backs violence this is not our way at all. We are for peaceful ways. We are all different Jews and we must understand each other. There is a need to find solutions through mutual understanding, and each side needs each other in order to find an acceptable solution," he said. The explosive brick was handled by police and disposed of in a controlled explosion at the scene. Noa Satat, chairperson of the Jerusalem Open House organization said that "we were glad to meet the religious leaders who condemn violence. The call to avoid violence is a great achievement. I thank my fellow Rabbis for this achievement. We presented the parade as a display of human rights. We explained the purpose of the parade and we heard the plight of the other side. I believe in talking to each other and I think the process started well. We are planning to continue these talks." Rehovot Chief Rabbi Simcha Cook told Kol Chai radio Thursday regarding the possibility of bloodshed at the parade, “There are some things rabbis cannot say, but the public needs to understand on its own.” Rabbi Elyakim Levanon said during the radio program that holding the gay parade in Jerusalem constitutes “blasphemy.” “I cannot tell people how to act in such situations, but it is enough to look at the scriptures to see that cases of blasphemy sometimes end in death,” he said. Efrat Weiss contributed to the report

J’lem: Thousands of haredim hold anti-gay rally

(VIDEO) Thousands of ultra-Orthodox protest planned gay pride parade, some hurl stones, set garbage cans ablaze; one police officer hurt; meanwhile, prominent rabbis, gay rights group representatives meet to discuss dispute