(Jerusalem) Rainbows and yellow ribbons mingled Thursday during the Pride March in Jerusalem, where participants defended gay rights but also demanded the release of hostages held in Gaza, in a less relaxed atmosphere. festive than usual.
At the head of the march, which brought together several thousand people, relatives of the hostages and the French ambassador to Israel, Frédéric Journès, carried a banner on which was written “Born to be free”. English), displaying the colors of the LGBTQ rainbow and a yellow ribbon, a symbol of support for hostage families.
“It’s sadder than usual,” Shlomo Gedzel, a 23-year-old biology student, told AFP.
“It doesn’t look like a party, there’s no music, there are hostage signs everywhere and people are generally more depressed,” he noted.
“Everyone (free) now!” » and “We are here, we are everywhere!” », chanted the demonstrators.
Omnipresent in Jerusalem for almost eight months, the theme of war has even found its way into slogans for LGBTQ rights.
Next to a banner advocating “Peace, Equality, Freedom”, some wore T-shirts in the colors of the rainbow flag with the word “NOW” evoking the release of the hostages.
“We want to be equal without being dead!” “, they also chanted. They were referring to an amendment passed in November allowing spouses of soldiers killed in combat to receive a widow’s allowance, which was previously impossible for LGBTQ partners who cannot marry in Israel, although marriages contracted there foreigners are recognized.
The slogan recalls the fate of soldier Sagi Golan, killed on October 7 during the unprecedented attack carried out by the Islamist movement Hamas against Israel, which sparked the war. The attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,189 people in Israel, mainly civilians, according to a count carried out by AFP based on the latest official figures available.
Sagi Golan died fighting Hamas fighters a week before his planned “wedding” celebration.
Her husband, Omer Ohana, was not initially recognized as a widower due to their single status, although they had lived together for six years.
Of the 252 people taken as hostages during the attack, 121 are still being held in Gaza, of whom 37 have died according to the army.
The Israeli response has so far left 36,171 people dead in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas administration’s health ministry.
“No pride in war”
During Gay Pride in Jerusalem, Sagi Golan’s father, Gilad, told AFP that Sagi and Omer had not felt any discrimination during their ten-year relationship, until Sagi’s death. .
Omer fought for the amendment and won, and “now there is equality after death.” We want equality in life,” Gilad said.
Many participants were dressed in black and held banners proclaiming “No pride in war”, and again “There are gays in Gaza”.
Yasha Marmer, 38, carried a sign reading: “No one is free until everyone is free,” an old slogan that he said takes on particular meaning in the context of the war in Gaza.
“We are also here to demand an agreement to exchange all hostages as part of an immediate comprehensive ceasefire,” he said, adding that Palestinians held in Israeli prisons should also be released.