Court OKs Jewish Pride Parade

The High Court of Justice has decided to approve a petition by Baruch Marzel's Jewish National Front party for the right to hold a Jewish Pride Parade and rally in the Lower Galilee Israeli Arab city of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Umm el-Fahem, a stronghold of the radical Islamic Jihad movement.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

However, the ruling stipulates that the event be held after the city's municipal elections, which are scheduled for November 11, and that the marchers stay out of the center of town.

"We are very pleased," said activist Itamar Ben Gvir in a statement to the media following the hearing held before Justice Edmond Levy, who reminded the court that Umm el-Fahem "is under Israel's jurisdiction."

Ben Gvir noted, "The court has made it clear that rightists are entitled to the same rights as those that leftists enjoy. In a few weeks we will march through Umm el-Fahem with flags to send everyone the message that the Land of Israel belongs to us. "This is a great victory."

Police had argued in court last month that allowing Jewish marchers to carry an Israeli flag through the city would be tantamount to incitement and would constitute a risk to public safety.

The two activists responded that prohibiting them from carrying the nation's flag through the city would be a gross violation of their freedom of expression.

Ben Gvir noted that a precedent had been set by the state when it allowed the Gay Pride parade to be held in Jerusalem despite numerous protests by residents against the event. He also cited examples of leftist activists who hold rallies and march through Jewish neighborhoods in the Judean mixed city of Hevron.

The court dismissed the argument by police, as well as their follow-up plea to move the venue to a location outside the city.

Security sources said last month that they were concerned that "emotions are likely to heat up" if the parade is allowed to proceed. Deputy Attorney General Michal Tzuk Shapir told the court, "We are worried about a repeat of the events of October 2000."

The Oslo War, also referred to as the Second Intifada, began that month with riots in Arab communities that month that left 13 people dead, including two in Umm al-Faham, which also serves as the nerve center for the northern branch of the Islamic Movement.

The activists responded that if as many police were present to protect the Jewish Pride Parade as were in attendance to protect marchers in the annual parade of homosexuals in the nation's capital, not a single stone would be thrown and no one would be hurt.

City hall officials said they would not allow the parade to take place regardless of the court's decision. They were backed by Israeli Arab MK Jamal Zahalka (Balad), who called the ruling a "legitimization of racism."

Zahalka, who has often been accused of inciting Israel's Arab population against its Jewish neighbors, declared in a statement to the media, "We will use our right of protest and defend Umm al-Fahm from these facists and racists."