- Title: ISRAEL-GAY/DEATH Israeli teen dies of injuries from stabbing at Gay Pride parade
- Date: 2nd August 2015
- Summary: JERUSALEM (JULY 31, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF ULTRA-ORTHODOX YISHAI SCHLISSEL SUSPECTED OF STABBING SIX PEOPLE INCLUDING BANKI DURING THURSDAY'S GAY PRIDE PARADE BEING BROUGHT TO JERUSALEM'S COURT FOR A REMAND HEARING VARIOUS OF SCHLISSEL SITTING IN COURTROOM
- Embargoed: 17th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Jerusalem
- City:
- Country: Israel
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA6C1SQM46K2FPOG11JBVX2UY9B
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: An Israeli teenager died on Sunday (August 2) of stab wounds sustained when an ultra-Orthodox man with a knife attacked a Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem three days ago, police said.
High school student Shira Banki, 16, was one of six people wounded in the assault on Thursday (July 30). Her death highlighted the city's sharp social divisions between Orthodox and secular Jews.
Shortly after the death announcement Banki's friends and schoolmates started flocking to her Jerusalem high school to pay their final respects and renounce violence.
"I'm not optimistic. I'm not optimistic, not about what's gonna come. The gay community in Jerusalem and in Israel is in pain and it's harmed and it was stabbed so hard that I don't know how we will get up from this but we have to keep fighting... and put all our energy to keep fighting for her and for everybody who was murdered for these causes," said Banki's fellow student, Anna Kleiman.
Nadav Harouvi, one of Banki's teachers, said that school was prepared to provide support and help students fight for their rights.
"Our students are not so naive, they know there are monsters in the world and they know how to fight them and this is our task now as teachers and friends, and their task as students, to continue the war (against) all those monsters who try to prevent us from living our lives."
Later on Sunday hundreds of members of the gay community and their supporters held a candlelight vigil in memory of Banki at a Jerusalem's main square.
A heart-shaped candle structure was lit by the mourners and the rainbow flag, a symbol of gay rights, was waved.
"Shira was a brave girl, she was murdered by a vile person because she supported a simple notion that everyone has the right to live their lives respectfully and with security. The despicable murderer who stabbed Shira and five others tried to undermine this fundamental value, the basic values on which our society is built - social equality and individual rights which we sanctify. We will not allow the murderer and his friends to impose hatred and violence among us," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement after sending his condolences to the family.
The suspect, Yishai Schlissel, was arrested at the scene and brought for a remand hearing at a Jerusalem court on Friday (July 31).
Police have come under criticism for not keeping him under surveillance, as he had been released from prison only weeks earlier after being jailed for stabbing three at the same event in 2005.
The annual parade in Jerusalem, which drew about 5,000 this year, has long been a focus of tension between Israel's predominant secular majority and the ultra-Orthodox Jewish minority, who object to public displays of homosexuality.
The same event every year in Tel Aviv generally passes peacefully as secular Jews hold greater sway in what is the country's entertainment and business hub.
The stabbing shocked Israel and drew condemnations from across the political spectrum. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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