Jerusalem Pride 2008

Yesterday’s Jerusalem Pride Parade, organized by the Jerusalem Open House went off uneventfully. This is a good thing, given the stabbings that took place three years ago and the rioting in Meah Shearim last year. There was rioting this year but I think only one trash bin was set on fire whereas in the past you could count on several riots that involved the burning of at least half a dozen trash bins. The Parade organizers, who chose the theme of Ahavat Chinam (Unlimited Love) this year have done a great job defusing criticism by making the parade a relatively low key affair. They even began the parade with teffilat ha derech – the traditional prayer said when one is about to go on a journey and one of the speakers said a Dvar Torah about this week’s Torah portion. But what’s a pride parade without assless chaps? It’s hard to get excited when there are no assless chaps anywhere. I was however pleased by the spirit of inclusiveness and was not remotely made to feel bad about being heterosexual. Also the occasional lesbians making out was cool. Always cool!

Jerusalem Pride 2008

Of course there was a counter demonstration where the police outnumbered the demonstrators by a 5 to 1 ratio. Yes. That smiling dude is holding up a noose. Oy. In any case, there were about 9 guys screaming at passing parade participants. They didn’t even have enough men for a minyan.

That having been said, I think I can guess where the 10th guy was that day.

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About the author

ck

Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.

21 Comments

  • what a disgrace!!

    I agree with “holy land” and NOT “homoland”

  • You can purchase HOMOLAND SECURITY tshirts from cafepress.com

    i think a better t shirt would be a rainbow colored shirt that reads

    G/olan Heights
    L/od
    B/e’er Sheva
    T/el Aviv

    Israel is for Lovers

  • I think I can guess where the 10th guy was that day
    – – – – – – – – – – – – –
    If this is a reference to the claim that “1-in-10-people-are-gay” – that is such an obvious falsehood that even gay activists are no longer saying it.

    The 1-in-10 pseudo-statistic is taken from Kinsey studies which included large numbers of prison inmates and child molesters.

    The actual number is much lower: only 2-3 percent of the population is homosexual.

  • Aw c’mon Ben-David, we all know the weaknesses in that 50’s era study. So what? I was just trying to be funny. Now can you comment on the dude with the noose? Why are all these people SOO freaked out about the gays? I’m pretty sure Sabbath desecration, which is worse than eating on Yom Kippur, is worse than being Gay. Will these froot loops go around to reform synagogues with nooses? Will they go to the homes of their non-sabbath observant philanthropists and wave a noose at them? CRAAAZINESS man. Or is it just that Ultra Orthodox Judaism is always just a little behind the times and what we witnessed at the anti-pride not-quite-a-minyan rally was not a manifestation of Judaism but rather a manifestation of the societal ignorance about homosexuality that we used to see in the 50s.

    And guess what else? I spent the better part of the day surrounded by the finest man-meat Jerusalm had to offer and yet, I still long for the loving embrace of a fine bootylicious eishet chayil. Dang those homos are not so good with their “Be Gay!” propaganda. Or maybe it was just the absence of assless chaps. Had anyone been wearing those I’m pretty certain I’d now be singing show tunes and hanging out with the boys at the Y-M-C-A!

  • C’mon yourself CK – you roll your eyes and can’t *imagine* why people still have their hackles raised – while you wax nostalgic for the assless chaps of yesteryear…

    No doubt you’d get all huffy if I dared to generalize from one g-string-wearer to the entire gay “community” – so where do you get off equating the entire haredi community (whom you admit didn’t even show up, now that the parade was not forced upon them in their neighborhoods) with one heckler?

    Tarring with a pretty broad brush there, for someone trying to adopt a muffti-style “reasonable-man-yamutu-hakanaim-let’s-all-get-along” kinda gig.

    Who cares if the gays are spreading untrue propaganda – the main thing is to strike the cool/hip/correct pose…. Unworthy of you, dude…

  • What’s wrong with everyone getting along?

    Muffti wrote up a post on the laudable lack of Haredi participation but it got chewed up and un-saved by the evil demon that is wordpress.

  • There’s nothing wrong with everyone getting along… but the “c’mon guys” shtick can’t be rolled out selectively.

    It’s also quite laudable that this time the gay marchers managed to remain fully clothed for the duration of the event.

  • Aw c’mon Ben David,
    I count as friends many in the Haredi community. They host Shabbat lunches and dinners for my birthright trip participants without any hesitation and they have provided me with spiritual comfort and inspiration and have often set a standard for kindness, generosity and, well, life, that I can only dream to aspire to.

    So I will take back what I wrote in my comment and rephrase it as such: “Or is it just that Ultra Orthodox Judaism is sometimes just a little behind the times…”

    Ooof. Those gays…

  • A parade for one day and the city is defiled. Yet, your city is not defiled for being so war torn and blood shed? We, in America, hear about all your military actions and constant fighting, killing, bombing, violence against women, etc EVERY DAY. I don’t see anyone protesting and blocking that.

  • nice to know you’re celebrating the festivities out in J town ck.

    I’m posting from San Fran – pride weekend permeated this city like I’ve never, ever seen before. And I’m being honest, since it was my first. Ass chaps abound, drags…Somehow I formed the last row of a Sexy Tranny parade. People took pictures and I’ll probably be famous pretty soon.

    BTW, with 16 authors now writing for jewlicious, and taking your statistics in mind, it begs the question: Who is our 10th?

  • Thanks for showing up, Kini – there’s nothing to close the Jewish ranks like an enemy we can all agree on….

  • aaron:
    with 16 authors now writing for jewlicious, and taking your statistics in mind, it begs the question: Who is our 10th?
    – – – – – – – – – – – – –
    aaron: see above. One-in-ten is a myth.

    You would need 50-100 writers to be relatively certain that 1-2 of them were gay – and that’s assuming a cross-section of writers that is representative of the general population.

    Considering that:
    – 1 in 200 American women are anorexic (most of them in the Jewlicious age range)
    – 3 percent of American women suffer bulimia

    … it’s more likely that a member of the writing staff would have an eating disorder than be gay.

    May not look that way in San Fran (or on TV) – but that’s the reality.

  • This crude effort to out someone on Jewlicious is disgusting. People are entitled to their privacy, and yes, that includes Middle.

  • Well.. even among the authors of the Babylonian Talmud.. they discussed who was their tenth. Rabbi Yochanan then said, let’s pass around some of my wife’s la-quiche (no bacon though) and let’s get back to writing dudes

  • Rabbi Yochanan then said, let’s pass around some of my wife’s la-quiche
    – – – – – – – – – –
    This is what comes from Artscroll translations….

  • That’s somewhere in the middle of Sota, right Larry? I’m pretty sure.

    P.S. I spent a few hours in the Castro tonight. My first time at a man man bar. It was fun, albeit a bit disappointing. I didn’t get picked up, not even once! I guess I’m just giving too many straight vibes. It was nice to get the bartender’s attention before all the ladies present. Hip Hip!

  • By the way I think ck has an eating disorder. When we were at sinai he barely ate a thing.