ISRAEL: Rallies To Be Held Nationwide In Aftermath Of Jerusalem Pride Stabbings

Via Haaretz:

Rallies to protest Thursday's stabbing attack at Jerusalem's Gay Pride parade and the arson attack in which a Palestinian child was killed will be held in major Israeli cities on Saturday night. A rally in Tel Aviv already planned to mark six years since two people were killed in a shooting at Bar Noar, a Tel Aviv gay youth center, will be turned into a protest against violence following Thursday's stabbings. At 7:30 P.M a Peace Now rally will be held at Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, and from there the participants will march to Gan Meir, where another rally is scheduled to take place. Opposition leader and Zionist Union head Isaac Herzog is scheduled to speak at the Rabin Square rally, as well as Meretz leader Zehava Galon, Zionist Union MK Amir Peretz, former Shin Bet chief Carmi Gilon and more. The Jerusalem rally will begin at 9:30 P.M. in Zion Square. A protest will also take place at 8:00 P.M. in the northern city of Haifa, and at 8:45 P.M in the southern city of Be'er Sheva.

During yesterday's arraignment the deranged attacker declared that he does not recognize the authority of Israel's legal system as he was acting under orders from God.

RELATED: Yesterday the New York Post published an op-ed which denounces the resurgent claims of "pinkwashing" that appeared on social media after Israeli politicians and religious leaders unanimously expressed outrage about the attack. An excerpt:

Their voices arrived this week both loudly and swiftly, often cloaked in the veil of “pink-washing” — the academically vogue assertion that Israel uses its pro-LGBT record to obscure its Gaza blockade and West Bank occupation. Transgender activist Pauline Park declared Thursday on Twitter: “Jerusalem LGBT PrideParade attack by Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Assailant undermines Zionist Pinkwashing Propaganda.” “Will the Zionists continue their pinkwashing campaign?” asked another on Twitter.

Indeed, across the #pinkwashing spectrum, posters insisted that Israel is actually unsafe for its LGBT citizens, that it’s far from a liberal haven and that Netanyahu’s good wishes are merely political showmanship. As with most socio-political-cultural conflicts, the truth is at once far simpler — and more complex. Indeed, much as in other Western democracies, Israel’s open society can cultivate extremists who may act out with violent results. Yet despite their horror, these egregious examples do not render those societies fundamentally violent.