JERUSALEM: Thursday, An Orthodox Jew identified as Yishai Schlissel was arrested by police officers after he stabbed marchers on a Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem, two of the victims are in serious condition.
- Jewish man had recently been released from prison after serving 10 years for stabbing and wounding six people on the streets same event in the same city.
The Gay Pride parade has been a tension between Jerusalem’s secular majority and its Jewish Orthodox communities. Israeli police granted a permit for activists to protest on the event. Ultra-Orthodox Jews have previously gathered in the city’s Mea Shearim quarter to protest against homosexuality.
According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “In the state of Israel, the freedom of choice of an individual i s one of the most basic values, We must ensure that in Israel every man and woman lives confidently in any way they choose.”
“This is how we operate and this is how we will continue to operate. I wish a speedy recovery to the injured.”
President Reuven Rivlin condemned the stabbing as a terrible hate crime.”We must not be deluded, a lack of tolerance will lead us to disaster. We cannot allow such crimes, and we must condemn those who commit and support them”, he said.
Massive presence of police are deployed along the parade route to prevent violence breaking out but unfortunately the man had pulled out a knife and attack, Jerusalem police spokesman Asi Ahroni said.
The Gay Pride Parade was continued after the wounded were taken for treatment, as planned with party music, Israeli flags and rainbow-clad marchers through barricaded streets of central Jerusalem, under a heavy police presence.
