The one thing in Jerusalem on which Jews and Arabs can agree
I've been trying to avoid this topic, largely because that was the strategy that nearly all our Rabbis adopted this past summer. Unfortunately, it looks like discussing it has become unavoidable, and I have no choice but to weigh in on the topic.When I was in law school many moons ago, a fellow student who was also Jewish came to me for help arguing with a professor and much of her class that permitting Nazis to march through Skokie, Illinois was not a great idea. Ironically, Skokie is my wife's home town, and I was relatively familiar with the case, but for those who are not, here is a summary from Wikipedia:
Skokie is the traditional home of a sizable Jewish population, although in recent years the town has significantly diversified and much of the Jewish population has moved to other suburbs. In 1977 and 1978, members of the National Socialist Party of America (an offshoot of the American Nazi Party) attempted to march through Skokie. The NSPA planned to rally in Marquette Park, Chicago; the city reacted by placing a ban on all demonstrations in the park. Seeking another venue, the NSPA chose Skokie. On account of the large number of Holocaust survivors in Skokie, it was believed that the march would be disruptive, and the village refused to allow it. The American Civil Liberties Union intereceded on the behalf of the NSPA in National Socialist Party v. Village of Skokie, and the march was permitted to proceed under court order but they were not permitted to show or wear the swastika. However, due to the recant of the Marquette Park ban, the NSPA ultimately rallied in Chicago. In 1981, the incident was documented in the network TV movie, "Skokie".At the time (1982), I suggested to my law school classmate that she use the same argument used by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in Schenk v. United States. In making the argument that speech may be subjected to reasonable time, place and manner restrictions, Justice Holmes noted that "the most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing panic."
Next Friday (November 10), there is a massive 'gay pride' parade scheduled to be held here in Jerusalem. This is the third time it has been scheduled. The first two times it was supposed to be an international convention, but it was cancelled due to the expulsion of Jews from Gaza in the summer of 2005, and due to the war in Lebanon this past summer. In fact, it is popular folklore here that God brought the disengagement and the war upon us so that the international gay convention would have to be cancelled.
Jerusalem is a city that is approximately 75% religious (and I mean really religious - not just that they go to synagogue every Sabbath), and it is clear to everyone that the main motivation for having that parade here (and not in Tel Aviv where, if they would not be welcomed with open arms, they would at least encounter much less hostility) is because they want it to be an "in your face" statement to Jerusalem's religious population. And yes, that includes Jerusalem's Muslim community.
If you read the media here, you would think that the engines are already revved up and ready to go out and oppose this. Until tonight, they were not. Even now, not all the forces are mobilized yet. In my ultra-Orthodox neighborhood, until today all you saw was an occasional wall poster talking about "mitzad ha'toeva" (the disgusting parade - a takeoff on what the event is actually called in Hebrew which is "mitzad ha'ga'ava" - the pride parade). Tonight, my entire neighborhood is plastered with signs that say "Jerusalem is not Sodom." In the morning, maybe I will try to add a picture to this post. Tonight, we also had our first riot over this as the leadership of the anti-Zionist Eda Charedis marched in sackcloth and ashes across the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Meah Shearim - and tried to block a major highway that skirts around that neighborhood.The way that the government proposes to deal with this 'demonstration' is by concentrating every police officer in the country in Jerusalem. Plus 2000 border police. They expect 5000 people to 'march' in this 'parade' - and up to a million to demonstrate against it (the only thing that might keep down the crowd of demonstrators, at least the Jewish ones, is that it's a Friday and the Sabbath starts relatively early). There is no way they can deploy enough police to control 1,000,000 demonstrators.
It's not just the ultra-Orthodox and the Muslims who will demonstrate against this 'parade.' The 'National Religious' community will also come out in force against this 'parade'.
As will many secular Jerusalemites who just feel that the 'parade' goes against the city's character. Jerusalem is not San Francisco, Amsterdam or New York.The last time a gay pride parade was held here - a local parade on a much smaller scale about a year and a half ago - it was cut short when a protestor stabbed three marchers. I certainly hope that people going to protest will not be armed. But that possibility cannot be discounted.
But it's not just that this parade goes against Jerusalem's character. It's not just that the bible calls sex acts between two males a to'eva (abomination). The parade is also a security risk to the rest of the country. The proposed police deployment for next Friday is similar to what the police did in 2005 during the Gaza expulsion.
In August 2005, the police and much of the IDF was pre-occupied with Gaza, leaving the rest of the country exposed. While the Palestinian terrorists had an incentive to keep quiet then - if a major terror attack meant that the Jews could not all be expelled from the Gaza Strip, the Palestinians had something to lose - they have no such incentive now. It is well within the realm of possibility that Palestinian terrorists could take advantage of the massive concentration of security forces in Jerusalem during the parade to attack elsewhere. While other 'Palestinians' join the protests against the parade - and wouldn't that R"L be a target for a suicide bomber?
No Jew here (that I know of anyway) would go into private homes looking to persecute gays. Let them do whatever they want to do in the privacy of their own homes. That's between them and God. But not on our public streets. Jerusalem is a special city; its holiness comes straight from God. The Pope may have chosen Rome (where a similar parade was held a few years ago), but God chose Jerusalem. Can anyone imagine them even trying to put on such a parade in Mecca (l'havdil!).
Wednesday, November 1, the police are going to meet one last time to decide whether to call the parade off due to the security issues. Let's hope the police decide to just say no to the 'parade.' Either that or one massive rain storm next Friday - maybe that will do the trick.
Let me add that I mostly agree with Ted Belman's comments on this issue too.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:42 PM
2 Comments:
Freedom of speech is not just for the accepted.
It is for the reviled as well.
BTW I think it was great that the Nazis marched in Skokie. It remined people what they stand for.
Considering that the parade is meant to draw attention, maybe the proper reaction ought to be to organize people to do absolutely nothing in reaction to the parade. No one ought to show up and protest. Everyone ought to just go about their usual business as much as possible and pay no attention whatsoever to the parade. This would deprive the paraders of the attention they want, not to mention totally confuse them since they are expecting opposition. Not getting what the want, the paraders will be less likely to repeat the parade, or at least they will be more likely to go somewhere else where people will be visibly offended. My brother the psychologist refers to this tactic as "extinction".
Most important is avoiding any violence whatsoever; the last thing one should do is make the paraders look like victims.
Alternative to ignoring the parade: Have R. Shmuely Boteach lead the protest and confuse the paraders with his messages of tolerance and non-rejection.
My brother the psychologist has read this message and approves my ideas for how to handle the parade.
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