(no subject)
I don't know if this has been posted, but as I just got this via e-mail, here it is...
Jen Christensen, PlanetOut Network
Fri May 6, 1:36 PM ET
SUMMARY: The WorldPride celebration scheduled to be held in Jerusalem
this summer may be postponed, organizers say, depending on Israel's
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story, based on an
incorrect report from the Jerusalem Post, said that WorldPride is
cancelled. Jerusalem Open House says that no decision has yet been
made. A corrected version of the story follows.)
The upcoming WorldPride celebration that is scheduled to be held in
Jerusalem this summer may be postponed, organizers say, because of
timing around Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Jerusalem's Open House, the group organizing the celebration, said it
didn't want the event to interfere with the Gaza pullout if it occurs
in August. The 10-day international Pride event is scheduled to begin
Aug. 18, just three days after the proposed monthlong withdrawal.
"The homo-lesbian community in Israel is not oblivious to what is
going on in the country and to the major public event that the Gaza
pullout will be," Hagai El-Ad, Open House's executive director, said
in an interview with the Jerusalem Post.
El-Ad added that his group is still committed to WorldPride and will
continue to monitor the situation, as the precise timing of the Gaza
withdrawal has not been finalized.
Fearing their forces would be overwhelmed with the pullout from Gaza,
local police voiced their opposition to issuing a festival permit.
But the police aren't the only voices opposed to the festival. An
irony behind the festival theme, "Love Without Borders," is that the
festival has brought together a growing number of religious leaders
from several faiths who protested the scheduled event.
Political opposition is also strong. Israel's leader of the Labor
Party and vice premier, Shimon Peres, joined a growing number of
critics of the festival. A local poll taken by the Dahaf Institute
this past March showed 96 percent of the Jerusalem Arabs polled
opposed the event.
Jerusalem has played host to at least three local Pride celebrations
in the past without much trouble. The last international WorldPride,
which was held in Rome in 2000, attracted about half a million
people. That event also faced religious opposition, particularly from
the Vatican, but was carried off on time and without incident.
I'm also gonna emphasize this. The WP events are being postponed, they're by no means called off.
[Edit:] The official new dates are August 6-12, 2006.
Thanks to tobeginagain, we have the links that report the decision -
On World Pride's site (English)
On GoGay (Hebrew)
Jen Christensen, PlanetOut Network
Fri May 6, 1:36 PM ET
SUMMARY: The WorldPride celebration scheduled to be held in Jerusalem
this summer may be postponed, organizers say, depending on Israel's
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story, based on an
incorrect report from the Jerusalem Post, said that WorldPride is
cancelled. Jerusalem Open House says that no decision has yet been
made. A corrected version of the story follows.)
The upcoming WorldPride celebration that is scheduled to be held in
Jerusalem this summer may be postponed, organizers say, because of
timing around Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Jerusalem's Open House, the group organizing the celebration, said it
didn't want the event to interfere with the Gaza pullout if it occurs
in August. The 10-day international Pride event is scheduled to begin
Aug. 18, just three days after the proposed monthlong withdrawal.
"The homo-lesbian community in Israel is not oblivious to what is
going on in the country and to the major public event that the Gaza
pullout will be," Hagai El-Ad, Open House's executive director, said
in an interview with the Jerusalem Post.
El-Ad added that his group is still committed to WorldPride and will
continue to monitor the situation, as the precise timing of the Gaza
withdrawal has not been finalized.
Fearing their forces would be overwhelmed with the pullout from Gaza,
local police voiced their opposition to issuing a festival permit.
But the police aren't the only voices opposed to the festival. An
irony behind the festival theme, "Love Without Borders," is that the
festival has brought together a growing number of religious leaders
from several faiths who protested the scheduled event.
Political opposition is also strong. Israel's leader of the Labor
Party and vice premier, Shimon Peres, joined a growing number of
critics of the festival. A local poll taken by the Dahaf Institute
this past March showed 96 percent of the Jerusalem Arabs polled
opposed the event.
Jerusalem has played host to at least three local Pride celebrations
in the past without much trouble. The last international WorldPride,
which was held in Rome in 2000, attracted about half a million
people. That event also faced religious opposition, particularly from
the Vatican, but was carried off on time and without incident.
I'm also gonna emphasize this. The WP events are being postponed, they're by no means called off.
[Edit:] The official new dates are August 6-12, 2006.
Thanks to tobeginagain, we have the links that report the decision -
On World Pride's site (English)
On GoGay (Hebrew)