Christians Jews and Muslims agree

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Religious leaders join forces against J'lem gay parade [Christians, Jews & Muslims Agree!]

Jerusalem Post ^ | Mar. 23, 2005 | Etgar Lefkowits

Posted on 03/23/2005 1:35:06 PM PST by Alouette

A worldwide interfaith campaign against a major international gay pride parade scheduled to take place in Jerusalem this summer gathered steam Wednesday with the Chief Rabbinate, the leaders of various Patriarchs in Jerusalem and a senior Muslim religious leader joining forces to thwart the event.

The religious leaders view the parade as an affront to the religious sensibilities of millions of people around the world.

The group will issue a joint call for the cancellation of the ten day 'Jerusalem World Pride 2005,' at a Jerusalem press conference tentatively scheduled to take place next week, officials said.

The rare 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 last week to prevent the August parade from taking place in the Holy Land.

More than 30 MKs from across the political spectrum, including the entire Shas Knesset faction, have signed on to the international petition against the campaign in the seven days since it was launched, with organizers hoping to get up to a million signatures against the parade worldwide.

But in a blow to organizers of the crusade against the event, Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski has refused to sign the petition campaign even though he is adamantly opposed to the event.

Jerusalem's first-ever haredi mayor has long kept his distance from Israel's ever-growing ties with pro-Israel Evangelical Christian leaders around the world, and his refusal to sign the petition -which was met with disappointment among both Jewish and Christian organizers of the campaign -was indicative of the wariness which many in the haredi world view connection and cooperation with Christian leaders, even in areas they see eye to eye on.

"As the first ever orthodox Mayor of Jerusalem, Lupolianski has an obligation to step forward and take an active leadership position to vocally oppose this event from happening, and not to hide behind the skirts of others," said New York Rabbi Yehuda Levin, of the Orthodox 'Rabbinical Alliance of America.'

Levin has joined forces with a California pastor in actively campaigning against the "parade of abomination" from taking place in Israel, and is aggressively courting Israeli political and religious leaders to take a public stand on the issue as a representative of 1,000 Orthodox Rabbis in America.

In a statement, Lupolianski spokesman Gidi Schmerling said Wednesday that "the mayor is opposed to the parade...[but] as is his custom, is busier with actions and less with declarations."

Meanwhile, the local organizers of the event found an ally in Israel's Masorti (Conservative) Movement, which have thrown their weight behind the controversial Jerusalem parade.

"In the past we have supported the right to hold a local gay pride parade in Jerusalem, and today, we continue to support their rights to hold such an event in Jerusalem even on an international stage as a symbol of the city's tolerance and pluralism," said Rabbi Ehud Bandel, the head of the movement.

Bandel added that he viewed nothing inappropriate about the event except for the campaign against it.

He noted that in the past the movement had considered to take part in such parades but did not due to concerns over "provocations" as well as the "sexual nature" of such an event, which, he said, was "out of sync" with a religious movement.

As the debate over the international gay pride parade rages, and those religious leaders opposed to the event look for both public and divine intervention, police said Wednesday that they were "considering" asking organizers to postpone the event since their forces will be overburdened with the concomitant withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Israel police spokesman Rafi Yaffe said Wednesday that no decision had been taken on the issue to date.

Israel police chief Insp. Gen. Moshe Karadi has said that police will be unable to provide adequate security for events coinciding with the pullout, the police spokesman said.

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 said Wednesday 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.

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.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1369102/posts

Christians, Jews Slam Jerusalem Gay Fest

By STEVE WEIZMAN Associated Press Writer

(AP) - JERUSALEM-Warning of divine retribution and possible violent protest, evangelical Christians and rabbis from the United States have joined forces with ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel to fight plans to hold an international gay festival in Jerusalem this summer.

The WorldPride Parade, last held in Rome in 2000, is a 10-day event including street parties, workshops and a gay film festival. Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox Jewish mayor, Uri Lupolianski, says he is powerless to interfere, as public events are licensed by the police, not City Hall.

At a news conference Wednesday, California pastor Leo Giovinetti said hosting the 10-day World Pride event could bring divine retribution upon Jerusalem, citing the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorra as a precedent.

Ultra-Orthodox Israeli lawmaker Nissim Zeev hinted at more earthly troubles. "With demonstrations we never know how they end up," he said. "Residents here are enraged. Everything should be done to stop this (event) and not cause people to break the law."

Lupolianski also sees a potential threat to public order in a city where religious feelings run high. His office warned in a statement that the parade "might instigate clashes."

In the past, Israeli gays have held small marches in Jerusalem that have passed relatively peacefully, with a few shouted insults from onlookers and minor acts of vandalism.

This time the plan is for a major international happening; the Rome event attracted tens of thousands of participants.

Organizers of the festival, under the theme "Love Without Borders" say they want to promote coexistence.

"The holiness of Jerusalem does not come from manipulating religion to keep people away," said Hagai El-Ad, the director of Open House, the Jerusalem group that has organized local gay parades in the city. "Jerusalem's holiness comes from it being a city that can bring together all kinds of people."

Giovinetti, from San Diego, has a nationwide radio ministry in the United States that he says reaches millions. He is seeking a million signatures for a petition against the August festival, which he said debases the sanctity of Jerusalem.

All 11 lawmakers from Zeev's Shas party have pledged to sign the petition. Benny Eilon of the right-wing National Union says he has promises of support from another 30 members of the Israeli parliament, including Muslim cleric Abdulmalik Dehamshe.

Giovinetti said that as a devout Christian, he felt bound to join with observant Jews to fight an offense to their shared traditions.

"I haven't come because I have hate for the homosexuals, I've come because I have love for the Jews," he said. "I believe that this march has been brought upon our Holy Land and that we're defending ourselves, not the aggressors."

A majority of Jerusalem's more than 600,000 residents are either Orthodox Jews or Muslim or Christian Palestinians, traditional communities that oppose homosexuality.

New York Rabbi Yehuda Levin, representing the Rabbinical Alliance of America - a group of 700 Orthodox rabbis - said that throughout the world many traditional Jews are offended by the planned event.

"This is not a parade. A parade takes a few hours. This is a 10-day homosexual convention with many outdoor activities and a 10-day pornographic film festival," he said.

2005-03-17T09:54:44Z

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