There isn’t conclusive evidence at this time but the timing seems awfully suspicious. It appears that just prior to the gay pride parade which was held in Jerusalem with relatively few incidents, a number of fires were set in forests surrounding Jerusalem. A couple of these, “Eshtaol forest, west of Jerusalem, and another fire near Beit Shemesh,” are still not under control.
Also, “City resident Gil Shiloh said that he noticed four fires near the Valley of the Cross, in central Jerusalem, and heard people praying in the background.”
Criminal idiots.
I should note that prior to this parade, while voicing strong opposition to the parade itself, a number of prominent rabbis publicly and responsibly requested that the ultra-Orthodox public refrain from taking any violent steps in their protests against the parade. Despite this possible arson and one guy who was caught with a small pipe bomb, for the most part it seems they were heeded and the protesters expressed their opposition without violence. This makes sense since a bunch of colorful balloons should make people happy, not angry.
As in the US there’s only 3 things wrong with the gays:
1.) They surely exist. And have for 1000’s of years. Read some Classical lit please.
2.) They are certainly Human, and so they are due the rights and respect we’d give to even strangers among us.
3.) Still worse! Many do happen to be citizens. FULL citizens of the state accorded all the rights & responsibilities of such.
Ergo, they need not hide in closets. There mere existence should not be seen as an ‘affront’ to anyone. As in the manifestly evil ‘thou shall not suffer a Jew to live’ formulation of the Middle Ages onwards.
We can go on and on about what’s ‘provocative’ or even what’s ‘deviancy’. Mostly irrelevant. Are they harming anyone physically? Are they exploiting anyone unjustly? Those are the only questions that the law should confine itself to. If they go about their lives peaceably as respectable citizens, this need never bother anyone. Not even a few times a year for a parade.
This is what makes living in a Western Democracy valuable. This is what freedom looks like. In Arab countries, gays are suppressed & persecuted. Everywhere. Living in Freedom and expecting justice they can happily co-exist in Israel. You can either have a real Democracy or you can have a Theocracy. West is West. East is East. Never the twain shall meet. It’s as simple as that. Cheers, ‘VJ’
Oy. Democracy applies to all citizens of the state, even those with whom we may disagree. I have to say that the marchers conducted themselves with dignity and that the parade was a relatively lo key affair that definitely took resident sensibilities into account. As for Haredi opposition to the parade, you cannot allow yourself to benefit from the fruits of democracy while simultaneously seeking to deny those same benefits to others. That the parade took place without incident ought to be viewed as a source of pride to all residents of Jerusalem.
May G-d help us all now. They were able to flaunt their agenda in everyones face. The vast majority of the people in Jerusalem didn’t want them there. This was a sad day for us all…
Having a gay parade in Jerusalem is nothing more than an in your face hateful provacation of traditional Jews. Yes they put on good parades but deviancy is deviancy, and should be practiced quietly and demanding moral equiovalence is an abomination.
I just went to his site and I can see where you’re angry – but again – I have to request some civility in the blogosphere. Please.
Really Judy. I guess I’m not surprised. It’s a little like road rage. No one knows who you are, you have a big steel cage (or web) protecting you and so you feel free to say things that you might otherwise not say to someone’s face. At least I am assuming that you were brought up better than that.
People march in pride parades to make sense of their lives despite being spat at and threatened and hated. They know to whom they cleave and it is not tolerated in most of the world despite every atom of their being knowing that their love of someone special is right.
Judy, there’s no need for that type of insult. It reflects poorly on you, not on Silverstein.
Hey, I understand that Little Dickie Silverstein, the drama drag queen, was in the rally with a big PLO flag sticking out of his rear end!