The third night in a row of Haredi protests against the Gay Pride parade planned for next week in Jerusalem turned violent Thursday. Five police officers and one Haaretz photographer were lightly injured by protesters, who burned trash and tried to block off a main road as they threw stones, steel pipes, gasoline, chairs, eggs, and whatever other objects they could find at police who arrived to restore order. About 2,000 protesters came out for a third night in a row of demonstrations against the city’s decision to hold the parade in the capital. “We tried to block Bar Ilan Street,” one protester told Army Radio, “but we couldn’t do it. Automatically, within half a minute, six or seven horses tore into the crowd…” Police arrested 25 people for disturbing the peace. Jerusalem district police chief Ilan Franco sounded optimistic about the situation, saying the latest violence would probably not prevent the parade
In a civic democracy, you don’t get to use violence to enforce a heckler’s veto. We don’t care if you’re really, really, really offended – if you don’t like living in a civil society, then go found a theocracy somewhere else.
Previously: Mere Rhetoric is Mean to Religious Jews, MR To Ultra-Religious Jerusalem Jews: Seriously, Get a Hobby, Chasids Rioting In New York Completes List of New York Jewish Subgroups That Piss Us Off
