Rabbi Praises Interfaith Effort That Kept 'Gay Pride' Parade Off Jerusalem Streets
by Jim Brown
November 10, 2006
(AgapePress) - - An Orthodox Jewish rabbi who is fighting what he calls "the homosexualization of the Holy Land," credits outcry from the religious community in part for the derailing of WorldPride 2006, a homosexual pride parade that was originally scheduled to hit the streets of Jerusalem today.
According to Associated Press reports, homosexual activists agreed to cancel their homosexual pride march through the streets of Jerusalem and to instead hold a rally in a closed university stadium on the edge of town. Police officials in Jerusalem had planned to put 9,000 officers on the street after a week of rioting by ultra-Orthodox Jews, who threatened violence if the parade went forward as planned.
Joining Orthodox Jews in protesting the event were Muslim and Christian religious leaders, who opposed the homosexual march taking place in a city considered sacred by members of all three faiths. A deal reportedly brokered by the Jerusalem Police Department consigned the homosexual pride celebrators to an event in a stadium outside the city's business sector. In return, the religious community has been promised there will be no future homosexual pride parades in the city's streets.
Rabbi Yehuda Levin of the New York-based organization Jews for Morality is in Jerusalem to protest the parade. He feels Israel's ultra-liberal Supreme Court has been very accommodating to homosexual activists; but nevertheless, he says, "the strong showing by the religious people of the city [of Jerusalem] was very effective in banishing the homosexual militants to the periphery, and as such, this is definitely a victory."
Still, Levin observes, it is "sad" that homosexuals are being allowed to cavort publicly in a stadium in Jerusalem. He finds it regrettable that Jerusalem officials have made even this much of a concession to the homosexual activists, and laments that America has exported its "anti-cultural smut" abroad.
"The reason this is so important, this issue, is first of all because this is an assault on the very essence of holiness," the New York rabbi contends. Jerusalem and Israel are "universally acknowledged as the Holy City and the Holy Land by people of all faiths," he says, "so this is like an attack to the epicenter, to the spiritual nerve center of world."
Although Jerusalem WorldPride 2006 has been contained, this will not be the last time leaders of different religious communities will have to stand together to oppose homosexual activism, Levin points out. He says he and other conservative Jews will be turning to the Christian community for help in fighting an attempt to legalize same-gender marriage in Israel and an effort to mandate curricula promoting homosexuality in grades K-12.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
