Jerusalem police reject deputy mayor's request for "bestial" march.
By ABE SELIGdonkey 311(photo credit: AP)
Jerusalem police on Wednesday evening rejected a request from Deputy Mayor Yitzhak Pindrus to hold a “donkey parade” alongside the city’s annual Gay Pride Parade, which is set to begin at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.While Pindrus had hoped to greet parade participants with the animals to represent what he terms the “bestial” nature of the pride march, police offered the deputy mayor a compromise of carrying cardboard cut-outs of donkeys during his group’s counterprotest. Pindrus accepted.RELATED:LGBT leaders hope for peaceful parade tomorrowTel Aviv gay parade draws thousandsWhile the municipality distanced itself from Pindrus’s plans on Wednesday, the deputy mayor, who heads the city’s United Torah Judaism faction at city hall, had made clear his intention of petitioning the High Court of Justice if necessary to allow a counterprotest to be held.Also on Wednesday, Jerusalem police announced that officers would deploy throughout the march’s route on Thursday, backed by Border Police officers and additional security personnel.Parade organizers expect around 3,000 people to participate in the march, which will begin at Independence Park and head toward the Knesset at 5:45 p.m.Parking in the streets along the parade route will not be allowed from the morning until 10 p.m. and vehicles that violate the order will be towed to the Liberty Bell parking lot.Roads near the parade’s route will also be closed, including parts of King George Street, Keren Kayemet Street and Ben-Zvi Street, as well as streets crossing Rambam Street.Police added that weapons would not be permitted near the route and that the public was asked to avoid the city center during the parade.
