Israeli
organizers
of
World
Pride
Jerusalem
say
they
hope
at
least
10,000
visitors
will
turn
out
Aug.
6-12
for
the
World
Pride
festival
despite
the
cancellation
of
a
gay
rights
march
and
the
escalating
hostilities
in
the
Middle
East.
The
three-week-old
war
between
Israel
and
the
Lebanese
militia
group
Hezbollah
and
continuing
skirmishes
between
Israelis
and
Palestinians
in
the
Gaza
Strip
prompted
Jerusalem
police
to
decline
a
permit
for
a
planned
gay
rights
march
through
the
streets
of
Jerusalem,
which
had
been
scheduled
for
Aug.
10.
“All
other
World
Pride
events
will
take
place
as
scheduled
in
a
format
that
is
sensitive
to
the
situation
and
as
part
of
the
continued
democratic
struggle
for
a
free
Jerusalem,”
said
Hagai
El-Ad,
executive
director
of
Jerusalem
Open
House,
the
city’s
gay
and
lesbian
community
center
and
a
lead
organizer
of
the
World
Pride
events.
According
to
El-Ad,
mostly
indoor
events,
such
as
an
international
film
and
arts
festival,
a
human
rights
conference,
an
international
LGBT
Health
conference,
social
and
entertainment
events
and
an
interfaith
religious
service
will
take
place
as
planned.
Jerusalem
authorities
said
the
extra
police
and
security
forces
required
to
protect
participants
in
the
gay
march
from
threats
of
violence
were
needed
in
other
parts
of
the
country,
including
northern
Israel,
which
is
being
subjected
to
rocket
attacks
by
Hezbollah
forces.
Members
of
fundamentalist
Christian,
Jewish
and
Muslim
groups
in
Jerusalem
had
threatened
to
physically
block
the
march,
saying
such
an
event
would
be
an
affront
to
observant
members
of
all
three
faiths,
who
consider
Jerusalem
a
holy
city.
“We
consider
it
a
postponement,”
said
El-Ad.
“A
new
date
for
this
year’s
Pride
March
in
Jerusalem
will
be
announced
as
soon
as
a
cease
fire
is
achieved
in
the
region,”
he
said.
“We
hope
and
pray
together
with
our
colleagues
and
supporters
around
the
world
for
an
end
to
hostilities
and
suffering
in
the
region.”
WorldPride
focus
on
religious
bias
In
a
July
25
conference
call
for
the
news
media,
El-Ad
and
two
other
organizers
of
World
Pride
gave
assurances
that
Jerusalem
remained
peaceful
in
the
midst
of
surrounding
hostilities.
But
Russell
Murphy,
co-president
of
InterPride,
the
international
association
of
Gay
Pride
coordinators
that
voted
in
2003
to
select
Jerusalem
as
the
host
city
for
World
Pride,
said
many
activists
in
North
America
and
Europe
are
reconsidering
whether
to
attend
the
event.
“Quite
frankly,
if
a
cease
fire
isn’t
reached
by
Aug.
4,
when
my
flight
leaves
from
New
York,
I
will
likely
cancel
my
trip,”
Murphy
said.
Murphy
said
the
selection
of
Jerusalem
for
World
Pride
this
year
and
the
group’s
selection
of
Rome
for
the
2000
World
Pride
were
in
keeping
with
InterPride’s
mission
to
advance
“equality
and
liberty
of
Lesbian,
Gay,
Bisexual,
&
Transgendered
people
worldwide.”
He
said
the
decision
to
hold
the
event
in
Rome
in
2000 — when
the
Vatican
and
other
Christian
denominations
celebrated
the
2,000th
anniversary
of
Christianity — was
aimed
at
showing
the
world
that
gays
have
survived
and
flourished
despite
years
of
persecution
based
on
religious
beliefs.
The
same
motivations
were
behind
the
selection
of
Jerusalem.
“So
far,
it’s
all
been
around
religion,”
he
said
of
the
only
two
World
Pride
events
to
be
scheduled
so
far.
Literature
posted
on
InterPride’s
website
shows
that
the
group
was
founded
in
1982
in
Boston
as
the
National
Association
of
Lesbian
&
Gay
Pride
Coordinators.
The
original
members
consisted
of
about
a
half-dozen
U.S.
groups
that
put
on
annual
Gay
Pride
events
and
whose
members
sat
down
together
for
the
first
time
to
“network,”
the
group’s
literature
says.
The
group
expanded
over
the
next
decade
and
became
the
International
Association
of
Lesbian
&
Gay
Pride
Coordinators
as
more
groups
formed
to
organize
Gay
Pride
events
in
North
America
and
Europe.
In
1999,
the
group
renamed
itself
InterPride
during
its
annual
meeting
in
Glasgow,
Scotland.
InterPride
members
voted
in
1994
to
create
World
Pride
as
a
“special”
international
pride
event
aimed
at
advancing
the
rights
of
GLBT
people
on
a
worldwide
basis.
“World
Pride
shall
be
a
title
granted
for
a
Pride
event
organized
by
a
member
[organization]
in
very
special
circumstances
and
shall
not
necessarily
be
a
habitual,
regular
or
customary
activity
of
InterPride,”
a
document
creating
the
event
says.
“It
exists
to
rally
the
lesbian,
gay,
bisexual,
transgender
communities
on
a
global
level,
thereby
promoting
our
universal
quest
for
freedom
and
human
rights,”
the
document
says.
With
those
principals
as
a
guide,
Murphy
said
the
organization
granted
a
request
in
1997
by
an
Italian
gay
rights
group
to
organize
and
host
the
first
World
Pride
march
and
festival
in
Rome
in
2000.
Concerns
about
Israel
Murphy
said
...
