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At midday, the heat was getting closer and closer to unbearable. People were spraying water on the parade (pun intended) from balconies and rooftops. The parade started in the center of Tel-Aviv and continued to the beach, then along the boardwalk.
It is by far the largest annual display of people power in Israel. Tens of thousands participants. Youngsters to the elderly, families with kids, dogs with their owners, tourists, and all the usual suspects from Amnesty International to the anarchists... Not a single yarmulke to be seen anywhere... In contrast with Jerusalem, in Tel-Aviv there was no atmosphere of fear of violence by Jewish crazies... The last Prime Parade in Jerusalem, last summer, ended up in murder of a participant by an ultra-orthodox Jew..
As explicitly stated by the organizers, the parade is not intended as a pinkwash for the Israeli regime, but without a word, its clearly stands diametrically opposite to the Right's messianic vision of theocratic Kingdom of Judea.
The music was high decibel, Middle-eastern-techno-dance, a style that is the rage in recent years. The flagship party of the genre is "Arisa", which by now has generated serious reviews and sociological analysis. The unofficial anthem: "Tel-Aviv, ya habibi, Tel-Aviv"...
Police estimated 200,000 participants...
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