Jerusalem Post
March 30 2005
Religious leaders: Ban J’lem Gay Parade
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
>From left: Muslim cleric Abdel Salem Menasra, Archbishop Aristarchos,
of the Greek Orthodox Holy Land Patriarchate, Latin Patriarch Michel
Sabbah, Israeli chief Sephardic rabbi Shlomo Amar and Chief Ashkenaki
rabbiYehuda Metzger in Jerusalem Wednesday
Photo: AP
In a rare alliance, senior religious leaders of Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam in the Holy Land joined forces Wednesday to
thwart a major international gay parade scheduled to take place in
Jerusalem this summer, urging the government to ban the event which
they said could provoke a violent reaction from the faithful.
“We are shocked to have received notice that a worldwide assembly of
ten days including an immodest parade devoid of minimal propriety is
scheduled to be held in Jerusalem this summer, which will offend the
very foundations of our religious values and the character of the
Holy City. Such an event would constitute a severe affront to the
hearts and souls of adherents of all religions – Jews Christians and
Moslems alike,” a declaration signed by a dozen top religious leaders
including Israel’s Chief Rabbis, the Latin Patriarch, the Vatican
Ambassador to the Holy Land, representatives from the Armenian and
Greek Orthodox Patriarchies and three Muslim Sheiks.
“We call upon and demand… the Israeli Government and all
responsible officials and Israeli police to realize the full
implications of their plans and to prohibit any march of this kind,
and especially in the Holy City of Jerusalem,” it read.
United and uncompromising in their beliefs, speaker after speaker in
the multi-faith tri-lingual press conference organized by the Israeli
Chief Rabbinate denounced the planned event as an affront and
provocation to the sensitivities of Jerusalem’s Jewish Arab and
Christian residents, as well as to millions of believers around the
world.
“We have enough tension in our city regarding the disengagement plan
and we do not need to add fire to the oil,” said Chief Rabbi Shlomo
Amar.
“The particular holiness of Jerusalem has requirements both for those
who are believers and those who are not,” concurred the Latin
Patriarch Michel Sabbah.
“We respect the ideas of everybody, but everybody must respect the
sentiments of the inhabitants of Jerusalem,” said the Representative
of the Holy See Archbishop Sambi.
“Such a parade is not only an offense but a provocation to Jews
Christians and Muslim all over the world,” he said, adding “no one
can be sure such a move will not provoke a reaction from the
faithful.”
New York Rabbi Yehuda Levin, representing 1,000 Orthodox Rabbis from
the ‘Rabbinical Alliance of America,’ who has been actively working
with Evangelical Christian leaders in the US against the event
lambasted the “parade of abomination” which he said represented
nothing less than “a spiritual rape” of the Holy Land.
“Why is it that the Government of Israel does not allow 10,000 Jews
to march on the Temple Mount because it is said to be a provocation,
but does not stop a ten day immoral celebration of sodomy and
pornography which is a provocation to the overwhelming majority of
the people of this city, and this land?” he asked.
Levin also expressed dissatisfaction with the Jerusalem Mayor Uri
Lupolianski’s ‘behind the scenes’ attitude vis a ve the event.
“We are embarrassed, ashamed and dissatisfied that you have not been
out there up front speaking out for the holiness of the city and
against this abomination” he said.
The highly unusual cooperation between Judaism’s, Christianity’s and
Islam’s top religious leaders in Jerusalem comes on the heels of a
joint Christian-Jewish campaign launched in the city earlier this
month to prevent the August parade from taking place in the Holy
Land.
The press conference of top religious leaders – where black hatted
Rabbis intermingled with Black-hooded Priests, Hebrew-speaking
priests pressed hands with Hebrew-speaking Sheikhs, and Muslim
clerics warned of destructions along the lines Sodom and Gomorra –
was condemned by Israel’s Masorti (Conservative) Movement, which has
come out strongly in favor of the international gay pride event.
“Such an unholy coalition of people who otherwise hate each other
only represents their own fear and hatred of the gay and lesbian
community,” said movement Rabbi David Lazar.
As the debate over the international gay pride parade rages, while
more conservative religious leaders opposed to the event look for
both public and divine intervention, police said they were
“considering” asking organizers to postpone the event since their
forces will be overburdened with the concomitant withdrawal from the
Gaza Strip.
The prerogative for issuing permits for marches and other public
events in the country rests with the police.
For their part, local organizers of the event have said that they had
not received any request from police to postpone the 10 day event to
date, adding that only the parade itself required security.
“Every year there is another excuse why this is not the right time,”
said Hagai El-Ad the executive director of Jerusalem’s Gay and
Lesbian Center whose organization is planning to host the
international event.
Even before the conflict with the Gaza pullout emerged, the idea of
holding such an international parade in Jerusalem was a source of
bitter controversy.
In a largely conservative city, with a strong religious and
traditional makeup, the idea of holding such an international parade
in Jerusalem is seen by many – even outside of religious circles – as
out of touch with both the spiritual character of the city as well as
the sensitivities of its observant residents.
A poll released at the Jerusalem press conference indicated that
three-quarters of Jerusalem’s Jewish residents were opposed to
holding the event, and only a quarter supported it.
The Dahaf institute poll taken this month among 400 people found that
among Jerusalem Arabs a whopping 96 percent opposed the event.
In reaction to the poll, organizers of the parade such that “freedom
of speech should not be held hostage to one poll or another.”
Jerusalem held its first annual local gay parade only three years
ago. The event, which draws several thousand participants, has been
the source of repeated debate each year, with many religious city
councilors and a not insignificant number of city residents
considering such an event inappropriate for a “holy” city.
The last international gay parade, which took place in Rome in 2000
despite the wrath of the Vatican, attracted about half a million
participants, while local organizers had been expecting tens of
thousands of revelers for the Jerusalem event this summer.