Security guards push the protesters off the road and behind barricades A group of mostly women protesters had to be physically bundled off the parade route by security and police as this evening's Pride Parade started its way down inner-city Ponsonby Road. Dressed in pink and using a bullhorn the protesters broke through the crowd control barriers and focused on an entry from the Israeli Embassy which was one of the first floats in the parade. As they formed up alongside the Israelis they carried posters reading "Queers against Israeli apartheid" which as spokesperson, Nadia Abu-Shanab says refers to the lack of human rights for glbti people in Israeli administered Palestine. She says the group object to the Israeli government's 'pinkwashing' whereby it actively promotes to the world a tolerant and inclusive a tolerant attitude to gay people but does not extend the same freedom to other groups. Protester Laura chants slogans objecting to the Israeli government presence in the parade It took some minutes before the security guards posted along the route coordinated their response and two blocks further down the road the group were encircled by guards who physically herded them to the sidelines. Scuffles broke out and a number of protesters ended up sprawled on the ground. Police met the group as it was pushed through the barricades and seem to have diffused the situation. There did not appear to be any immediate arrests. The protester with the bullhorn, who identified herself as Laura, said afterwards that she had been "punched around quite a bit" and that she was in some pain from the scuffle. Abu-Shanab says most of the group are queer, and they included Israelis and Palestinians. Parade organiser Richard Taki said, towards the end of the parade, that the anti-Israeli protest and a medical emergency along the parade route which delayed the start for several minutes were the only untoward incidents he was aware of.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 22nd February 2014 - 9:09pm