A mob of anti-Israel protesters faced off with participants in a gay pride parade in Philadelphia on Sunday, bringing the march to a complete halt.
As Pride Month kicked off over the weekend, hundreds of anti-Israel demonstrators belonging to an LGBTQ+ group blocked the pride parade’s path and chanted, “Palestine will live forever. From the sea to the river,” according to several videos circulating on social media. The chants were met with drum beats from the opposite side. Protesters could also be seen holding up a rainbow flag with “No Pride in Genocide” painted on it.
The parade was blocked at the intersection of 11th Street and Locust Street as marchers headed toward the city’s Gayborhood section, a neighborhood known for its LGBTQ+ culture and residential life.
The protest was led by Queers4Palestine, a gay progressive activist group which routinely accuses Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza. The Philadelphia-based group posted a statement on Instagram, arguing that the gay-rights movement should incorporate pro-Palestinian activism.
“Queers 4 Palestine PHL calls on all Queer & Trans people to denounce Capitalism, Colonialism, and Empire as anti-queer and organize to bring about an end to the Zionist occupation and to all systems and entities which enable and normalize genocide,” the statement says. “‘Pride’ cannot be separated from our current political and economic climate.”
“We reject all celebrations of pride if they are not grounded in the struggle to end genocide,” the group wrote in the comment section.
With some donning keffiyehs, the anti-Israel mob shouted, “PPP, KKK, IOF they are all the same,” another video showed. The slogan apparently likened the Philly Pride Parade to the Ku Klux Klan and the “Israel Occupation Forces.”
Meanwhile, Sunday’s Israel Day Parade in New York City was met with a sign that read, “Kill Hostages Now.” Apart from that instance, the parade was largely unaffected by anti-Israel protesters. The pro-Israel marchers were calling for Hamas terrorists to release the remaining 120 Israeli hostages, nearly eight months after October 7 and the ensuing war.
Hamas, the terrorist group that controls Gaza, routinely imprisons and even executes people for homosexuality. In 2016, the group even executed one of its commanders, Mahmoud Ishtiwi, for allegedly engaging in homosexual activity.