For months, gays and lesbians bound for Jerusalem worried about religious zealots committing violence during WorldPride, a weeklong gay pride event held last week.
That never happened.
Instead, the only violence was sparked by a radical leftist gay group attacking Israel’s war against Hezbollah and Hamas.
At an Aug. 10 WorldPride outdoor vigil at Jerusalem’s Liberty Park, dubbed “Protest Against Hatred: Continuing to Live — Continuing to Love,” a group of 40 to 50 people demonstrating against the war in Lebanon drew attention away from the gay rights issue.
Protesters scurried in all directions when scuffles with police ensued.
“This was a misguided attempt by a small group of individuals to try to cynically use the event to express messages that are not related to what this protest was about,” said Hagai El-Ad, executive director of Jerusalem Open House, which organized WorldPride.
It was the only incident to mar an otherwise successful — if curtailed — event. Though the war caused many people to cancel their trips to Israel, 19 sojourners from San Francisco’s Congregation Sha’ar Zahav did attend WorldPride. According to Rabbi Camille Angel, it was the trip of a lifetime.
“For me,” she said, “the trip was a success in that people who had certain preconceptions were challenged to think differently and recognize the complexity that is Israel. Simple answers don’t work there.”
The congregants spent the first week of their two-week trip touring the country, visiting places like Masada, the Dead Sea and Petra. But the war raging in the north impacted the trip dramatically.
“The country in terms of tourism felt completely empty and abandoned,” Angel said. “Everyone we met was worried about family and colleagues called up to serve or already in Lebanon. Three people with Jerusalem Open House who prepared the week’s events were called up for reserve duty and were not able to see their work come to fruition.”
Otherwise, Angel and the other Sha’ar Zahav congregants thoroughly enjoyed WorldPride, citing the Holy Wigs drag queen show and a multifaith conference as being among the highlights. One of Angel’s favorite moments came in the courtyard of Hebrew Union College, where she’d studied for the rabbinate.
“To see rainbow flags, to hear the HUC choir singing songs of praise, to feel welcome and to be connected to people from all over the world, was an inspiration,” she said.
Of course, those that condemned WorldPride had their moments, with 20,000 packing Jerusalem’s Teddy Kolleck Stadium for what they called a Modesty Rally.
When the scuffles at Liberty Park broke out, Angel and her group from Sha’ar Zahav left. “If their intent was to interrupt the positive presence of so many who had come to make a case against homophobia, then they were successful because people left so as not to be confused with what they stood for.”
Yaron Schweizer, a representative of Queeruption, the group that staged the anti-war demonstration, claimed: “The police started provoking us, pushing, stepping on and kicking people.”
Some felt the anti-war demonstrators hijacked what was intended as a peaceful event. Lebanese flags were waved alongside Israeli ones, while banners called for a halt to the war in Lebanon.
As for Angel and company, they are glad to be home but will not soon forget their visit to Israel. “People were so grateful to have had this experience,” Angel said. “We’re already planning a reunion in the next few weeks to share pictures.”
JTA correspondent Rebecca Zeffert contributed to this report.