JERUSALEM: Ultra-Orthodox Jews launch 'Beast Parade' to mock gays over controversial gay parade, Hebron mufti expresses Muslim objection

Dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews launched the 'Beast parade' on Thursday (November 9) to mock the gay community who plans to hold the annual gay parade in Jerusalem. Accompanied by donkeys and goats, the protesters marched from Jerusalem's government compound, following the same route the pride parade was slated to take, before police and gay representatives decided to hold it as a rally due to security threats. Palestinian vows to strike in Israel after army shelling in Gaza killed 18 civilians on Wednesday (November 8) prompted the cancellation of the gay pride parade in Jerusalem. Organisers said they had agreed to move Friday's (November 10) scheduled event to a Jerusalem stadium, instead of holding a march through the streets of the holy city, after police said they needed to divert forces to protect against Palestinian strikes. Officials in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox community said rabbis had agreed to the compromise and instructed their followers to halt nightly protests in religious neighbourhoods of the city against the parade. But some of the Ultra-Orthodox Jews, who view homosexuality as an abomination, continued the 'beast march', leading through the streets of Jerusalem donkeys that carried signs such as 'proud beast'. The gay pride parade, scheduled for November 10, drew harsh criticism from various religious leaders. In the West Bank city of Hebron a Muslim cleric condemned the parade, saying it should not be held in a city sacred to all three religions. "We condemn these kinds of acts, that they are demonstrating in Jerusalem, because this is harmful to the holy city and it is dirt to the holy city for all religions," said the Mufti. Israeli artillery shelling killed 18 Palestinian civilians in a town in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, prompting threats by militant groups to renew suicide bombings in Israel. Palestinians called the incident a massacre. Israeli leaders have expressed remorse for the incident, which they said was probably the result of rounds overshooting their target. The army said it was targeting rocket launchers. Police initially approved the Jerusalem parade only after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the march taking place in the city. The event had been postponed twice in the past, during Israel's pullout from Gaza last year and its war against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas this summer.

ITN Source | November 10, 2006

Tags:. .expressed. .various. .instead. .dozens. .incident