Gay Activists March Through Jerusalem

Gay activists march in a Gay Pride parade as border police officers secure the event, in downtown Jerusalem, Thursday, June 21, 2007. Under heavy police guard, some hundreds of gay activists march in a Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem on Thursday, sparking a noisy counter demonstration by ultra-Orthodox Jews and denunciations by Muslim and Christian leaders. There were no incidents of violence during the short event.(AP Photo/Oded Balilty) (Oded Balilty - AP)

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.