Gays and religious opponents to march on the same day

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Police in the Israeli city of Jerusalem have given the go-ahead for a gay Pride march in the city next Thursday and a counter-demonstration by orthodox Jews on the same day.

The gay Pride event will move through the centre of the city and finish with a party in a park.

More than 7,000 police officers will be on duty to make sure that both events pass of peacefully.

The religious protest will take place on the outskirts of the city.

Earlier this week a group of orthodox rabbis from the Eda Haredit sect placed a curse on an upcoming gay parade.

At the 2005 Pride event in Jerusalem a member of the sect stabbed three of the participants.

“To all those involved, sinners in spirit, and whoever helps and protects them, may they feel a curse on their souls, may it plague them and may evil pursue them.

“They will not be requitted of their transgressions from heavenly judgment,” their message read, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Ultra-religious members of the Israeli parliament are attempting to bring forward new legislation to allow gay rights events in Jerusalem to be banned altogether.

Last year’s Jerusalem Pride event in the streets of the city holy to all three major religions was delayed and then cancelled, with a Pride gathering held in a sports stadium instead.

The Jerusalem Post reports that three quarters of the city’s residents oppose the Pride parade.

In April an explosive device detonated near Jerusalem was thought to be the work of ultra-Orthodox Jews protesting against the Pride event.

The small pipe bomb exploded near the West Bank separation fence.

One person suffered a minor leg injury and was taken to a hospital in Jerusalem.

Security forces investigating the scene reported the discovery of leaflets that call for the cancellation of the June 21st march.

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