pride event in Bet Shemesh is still on

At the end of May it was announced that there would be a pride event in Bet Shemesh (along with a list of event sin other cities around Israel throughout the summer). At some point the event was removed from the LGBT website but not from Facebook. People wondered if perhaps the event was canceled or what the story might be.

It turns out the event is still going on, is back on the website, and will be taking place on July 25th as scheduled. What the event is exactly I am not sure, but it seems to not be a parade but an event. There was talk of it being in the old city center in the plaza by the shops, but then it seemed to be moved to Naimi. No official location has yet been announced, on either page, so it is unclear where it will be, though it seems likely it will be at the plaza of Naimi Mall.

As expected, this is going to cause a crisis in town. According to Kikar, rabbonim affiliated with the Shas and UTJ parties have issued a letter to the Iryah led by Mayor Dr Aliza Bloch protesting the event and calling upon whomever possible to help get the event canceled and removed from the city, using harsh words against it. By the way, according to the Kikar article the event will be held on Hagefen st. It happens to be that Hagefen St is not in a Haredi or religious neighborhood, but Kikar associates it as such by saying it is near and overlooks Bar Ilan St that has Haredi families (Bar Ilan is a mitchared neighborhood) so it could be a point of conflict.

UTJ activists have said that if it turns out the event will be [partially] funded by the City, they will pull out of the coalition.

The official response of the City of Bet Shemesh is that the Iryah respects and takes into consideration the sensitivities of the Haredi and Dati communities in the city and is not funding or supporting this event in any way, though any needs form the education and social welfare departments will be assisted. Mayor Bloch will not be participating int he event, as she has already stated. 

Assuming no secret Iryah funding is discovered, the event should go on and not cause any actual crisis, though the police will surely be on hand to ensure quiet and deal with any public safety issues.

It looks like it is going to be a hot summer in Bet Shemesh!

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