Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupoliansky has asked the Supreme Court to issue an injunction against the holding of a homosexual march next Thursday in the Holy City. He and city manager Yair Maayan explained that the march "offends public sensibilities."
The two officials wrote to the Court that the parade "greatly offends, deliberately and unnecessarily, the feelings of Jews, Muslims and Christians who view its very existence, and the in-your-face manner in which it is held, as a desecration of the holy city and the values on which they were raised."
Based on the experience of similar petitions in the past, it is not expected that the Supreme Court will cancel the parade.
Other Fronts
Other efforts against the parade include a petition by several Knesset Members, ten demonstrations to be held at the same time as the parade, and a letter to the police.
A group of MKs sent a petition to MK Menachem Ben-Sasson, Chairman of the Knesset Law Committee, urging him to stop stalling progress on a bill from last year to ban such parades in Jerusalem. They called on him to "rise above personal interests" and allow the bill to make its way to the Knesset for a vote.
In addition, MKs Eli Yishai (Shas) and Uri Ariel (NU/NRP), together with Jerusalem City Council members and Chief Rabbis Shlomo Amar and Yona Metzger, wrote a letter on Thursday asking Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen to cancel the parade. They proposed that instead, the marchers hold an event in a closed space, such as a stadium as occurred last year, or on the city's outskirts. They also asked that entry be limited to people over 18 years of age. "Freedom of expression is not freedom of abomination," they wrote.
The letter was also sent to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, Minister of Public Security Avi Dichter, Jerusalem Police Chief Aharon Franco, and the Open House which is organizing the parade.
If all the above does not work, ten demonstrations will be held around the city next Thursday against the gay pride parade.