A Jerusalem Gay-Pride Clash Is Averted

It was billed as an apocalyptic showdown: A band of scared but stubborn gay Israelis who wanted to celebrate their sexuality on a march through Jerusalem, versus 100,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews who vowed to tear the gays into confetti-sized pieces for turning the Holy City into "Sodom."

But in the end, the march became simply a rally, and there was only a single act of near-violence: A fanatic lunged at a drag queen belting out a gay-pride song on stage at Friday's event in the sports arena of the Hebrew University, but even in spangled high heels, the drag queen nimbly evaded the attacker, and a security guard yanked the assailant offstage stage by the seat of his trousers.