Sonara
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 2, 2008
- 726
- 68
[h=1]Six people stabbed at Jerusalem gay pride march 'by ultra-Orthodox Jew released from jail three weeks ago for identical attack in 2005'[/h]
An Orthodox Jewish assailant stabbed and wounded six participants in the annual Gay Pride march in Jerusalem on Thursday, police said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned 'as a most serious incident' what was the worst attack in years on the event in Jerusalem, a city where the religious population is more prominent than in other parts of Israel.
Marchers numbering about 5,000 and waving banners were heading down an avenue when an ultra-Orthodox man jumped into the crowd and plunged a knife into some of them, witnesses said.
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The attacker brandishing a knife runs towards one of the people taking part in Jerusalem's Gay Pride event
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Eyewitnesses screamed after the man jumped from the crowd and tried to stab several of the revellers
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Police wrestled the man to the ground and arrested him following his rampage earlier this afternoon
Police arrested the suspected perpetrator and were questioning him, police spokesman Assi Aharoni said.
Police and medics said the assailant had wounded six people. Two were taken to hospital in serious condition.
Jerusalem police confirmed the suspect had recently been released from prison after carrying out an almost-identical knife attack on the city's gay pride festival in 2005.
'I saw an ultra-Orthodox youth stabbing everyone in his way,' said Shai Aviyor, a witness interviewed on Israel's Channel 2 television.
'We heard people screaming, everyone ran for cover, and there were bloodied people on the ground,' Aviyor said.
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Police led the suspect, second right, away from the scene for questioning following today's incident
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Some six people were wounded during the rampage with two of them reportedly in a critical condition
The march, which attracts thousands of participants, has long been a focus of tension between Israel's predominantly secular majority and the ultra-Orthodox Jewish minority, who object to public displays of homosexuality.
While the event takes place annually in the more gay friendly business hub of Tel Aviv without incident, in Jerusalem, where the religious population is more prominent, violence has erupted in the past.
The march is held in the largely Jewish side of the divided city. Palestinians predominate in occupied East Jerusalem.
Oded Fried, the head of a leading gay rights group, said the attack would not deter the movement.
'Our struggle for equality only intensifies in the face of such events,' he said.
Netanyahu said in a statement: 'This is a most serious incident. We will prosecute those responsible to the full extent of the law. Freedom of individual choice is a basic value in Israel.'
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Medics and ambulance workers raced to the scene to treat some of the critically wounded victims
- Six people were wounded by the ultra-Orthodox Jew during the march
- Witnesses said the man jumped from the crowd and began stabbing people
- Police arrested the alleged attacker following the incident in Jeruslalem
- Two of the six victims are believed to be in a critical condition
An Orthodox Jewish assailant stabbed and wounded six participants in the annual Gay Pride march in Jerusalem on Thursday, police said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned 'as a most serious incident' what was the worst attack in years on the event in Jerusalem, a city where the religious population is more prominent than in other parts of Israel.
Marchers numbering about 5,000 and waving banners were heading down an avenue when an ultra-Orthodox man jumped into the crowd and plunged a knife into some of them, witnesses said.
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The attacker brandishing a knife runs towards one of the people taking part in Jerusalem's Gay Pride event
+6
Eyewitnesses screamed after the man jumped from the crowd and tried to stab several of the revellers
+6
Police wrestled the man to the ground and arrested him following his rampage earlier this afternoon
Police arrested the suspected perpetrator and were questioning him, police spokesman Assi Aharoni said.
Police and medics said the assailant had wounded six people. Two were taken to hospital in serious condition.
Jerusalem police confirmed the suspect had recently been released from prison after carrying out an almost-identical knife attack on the city's gay pride festival in 2005.
'I saw an ultra-Orthodox youth stabbing everyone in his way,' said Shai Aviyor, a witness interviewed on Israel's Channel 2 television.
'We heard people screaming, everyone ran for cover, and there were bloodied people on the ground,' Aviyor said.
+6
Police led the suspect, second right, away from the scene for questioning following today's incident
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Some six people were wounded during the rampage with two of them reportedly in a critical condition
The march, which attracts thousands of participants, has long been a focus of tension between Israel's predominantly secular majority and the ultra-Orthodox Jewish minority, who object to public displays of homosexuality.
While the event takes place annually in the more gay friendly business hub of Tel Aviv without incident, in Jerusalem, where the religious population is more prominent, violence has erupted in the past.
The march is held in the largely Jewish side of the divided city. Palestinians predominate in occupied East Jerusalem.
Oded Fried, the head of a leading gay rights group, said the attack would not deter the movement.
'Our struggle for equality only intensifies in the face of such events,' he said.
Netanyahu said in a statement: 'This is a most serious incident. We will prosecute those responsible to the full extent of the law. Freedom of individual choice is a basic value in Israel.'
+6
Medics and ambulance workers raced to the scene to treat some of the critically wounded victims
