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Israeli border police officers stand guard as participants of the gay pride parade walk past in Jerusalem - Source: Reuters -
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A gay pride parade in Jerusalem ended peacefully but the planned
opening of a municipal parking lot on the Jewish Sabbath will test
the delicate balance between religious and secular Jews in the
city.
The annual parade has touched off anti-gay protests by
ultra-Orthodox Jews in the holy city in the past.
But this year they limited their protest to holding street
prayers wearing brown sacks in line with a biblical mourning
tradition.
Police deployed some 1,500 officers - albeit far fewer than in
recent years - along the route, which avoided neighbourhoods where
traditionally black-garbed ultra-Orthodox Jews live.
Many devout Jews, Muslims and Christians view homosexuality as an
abomination.
In 2005, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed and wounded three participants in the gay march.
He is serving a 12-year sentence.
Amit Lev, a spokesman for the gay rights group behind the parade,
said organisers had negotiated with ultra-Orthodox leaders in
Jerusalem after long years of silence between the two
communities.
"We've agreed that violence doesn't serve any of us or any of our
goals," he said.
But tensions have been stirred in the city over plans by
Jerusalem's Israeli mayor, Nir Barkat, to reopen a public parking
lot on Saturday, a move that could draw more traffic into the city
on the Jewish Sabbath.
Jewish religious law bans travel on the Sabbath, and Jerusalem's
ultra-Orthodox community has negotiated with city authorities
arrangements that limit or ban traffic in their neighbourhoods on
Saturdays.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews held stone-throwing protests three weeks ago when the municipal parking lot was last opened on a Saturday and authorities fear a repeat of the violence this weekend.
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