Jerusalem gay parade ends peacefully (Reuters)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A gay pride parade in ended peacefully on Thursday but the planned opening of a municipal parking lot on the Jewish sabbath will test the delicate balance between religious and secular Jews in the city. The annual parade has touched off anti-gay protests by ultra-Orthodox Jews in the holy city in the past. But this year they limited their protest to holding street prayers wearing brown sacks in line with a biblical mourning tradition. Police deployed some 1,500 officers -- albeit far fewer than in recent years -- along the route, which avoided neighborhoods where traditionally black-garbed ultra-Orthodox Jews live. Many devout Jews, Muslims and Christians view homosexuality as an abomination. In 2005, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed and wounded three participants in the gay march. He is serving a 12-year... [read full story]                    

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