Thursday, July 30, 2015

At least 6 stabbed at Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade


Suspect was convicted of attempted murder after stabbing three during 2005 Gay Pride Parade; he was recently released from prison.


By Yair Ettinger, Yarden Skop and Chaim Levinson | Jul. 30, 2015 | 8:44 PM |


Israeli security forces reach for an ultra-Orthodox Jew attacking people with a knife during a Gay Pride parade Thursday, July 30, 2015 in central Jerusalem. Photo by AP


Yishai Schlissel's arrest at the Gay Pride Parade on July 30, 2015 (left), and his arrest in 2005.Photo by Emil Salman, Uri Lantz


A stabbing victim at the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade, July 30, 2015. Photo by Emil Salman


Ultra-Orthodox Jew Yishai Schlissel walks through a Gay Pride parade and is just about to pull a knife from under his coat and start stabbing people in Jerusalem, Thursday, July 30, 2015. Photo by AP


Plainclothes Israeli police detain an-ultra Orthodox Jew after he attacked people with a knife during a Gay Pride parade Thursday, July 30, 2015 in central Jerusalem. Photo by AP


At least six people were stabbed at Jerusalem's annual Gay Pride Parade on Thursday. The suspected attacker was identified as the same man behind the attack on the 2005 parade, recently released from prison.

One woman was critically wounded, Magen David Adom emergency services reported, adding that two men were moderately wounded, and another two men and a woman suffered light wounds. Magen David Adom emergency services treated the victims on the scene, and then rushed them to three different hospitals in Jerusalem.

Police confirmed that the suspected stabber is Yishai Schlissel, a Haredi man from Modiin Ilit who stabbed three participants in the 2005 Gay Pride march. He was recently released from prison after serving a 10-year sentence.

Thousands of people took part in the march, which was heavily secured by police. In the Keren Hayesod Street, a haredi man broke into the crowd and stabbed several of the marchers. He was quickly wrestled down by police and arrested. Minutes after the stabbing, organizers and police agreed the march will go on and terminate in the agreed upon location in Liberty Bell Park.

Schlissel was sentenced for 12 years in prison for the 2005 attack after his conviction on charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault. However, in 2007, following an appeal, the Supreme Court mitigated his sentence to 10 years.

After his release, Schlissel returned to his hometown, where residents said that he distributed hand-written pamphlets in which he called on "all Jews faithful to God" to risk "beatings and imprisonment" for the sake of preventing the parade.


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