More than 20,000 attend Jerusalem gay pride parade
Roughly 22,000 people take part in Jerusalem's gay pride parade; hundreds of police officers and security personnel are deployed along the parade route; 12 people detained for questioning on suspicion of attempting to disrupt the event, one of them found carrying a knife.
Thousands of people gathered in the Liberty Bell Park, as police and security forces blocked nearby streets in preparation for a large turnout.
At the entrance to the parade, the participants were checked carefully—each examined with a hand-held metal detector. Twelve people were detained for questioning on suspicion that they intended to disrupt and harm the march. One of them was found carrying a knife.
Dozens of people also gathered at an event commemorating Shira Banki, who was murdered in the parade two years ago.
The participants scattered white flowers as they marched through the location where Banki was murdered, and her parents, Uri and Mika, also participate in the events.
Near the parade, in the area of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, extreme right-wing activists from the Lehava organization—which strictly opposes Jewish assimilation—were protesting against the parade.
A heavy police presence was deployed to maintain order near the Lehava protest.
One right-wing activist apparently attempted to photograph a notebook containing the pictures and names of potential suspects carried by a police officer at the scene. Police therefore attempted to detain the suspect leading to a commotion. Police managed to disperse rioters without anyone being hurt.
Yael Freidson, Elisha Ben Kimon, Adi Rozenberg and Yishai Porat contributed to this article.
