Over 250,000 people celebrate Gay Pride at Tel Aviv parade

Ripped men in white underwear, pink bunny ears and black bow ties gyrated through the streets of Israel's Tel Aviv on Friday along with drag queens and others to loud trance music for the annual Gay Pride Parade — the biggest event of its kind in the region.

Israelis and tourists wave flags as they participate in the gay pride parade in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 8, 2018. The Tel Aviv Municipality said 250,000 people celebrated on Friday. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

Israelis and tourists participate in the gay pride parade in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 8, 2018. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

The Tel Aviv Municipality said over 250,000 people celebrated at the city's 20th Gay Pride Parade, an event that draws people from around the world to party.

Cordelia Lange, from Germany, said Tel Aviv is "a very vibrant city, it's a city that embraces everything connected to gays, lesbians and LGBT and I think it's a combination of city at the beach and good vibes."

Israelis and tourists pose for a photo as they participate American actress Gillian Iliana Waters in the gay pride parade in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 8, 2018. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

Israelis and tourists participate in the Gay Pride parade in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 8, 2018. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

The good times in Tel Aviv contrasted sharply with events just 70 kilometers (45 miles) to the south, where Israeli fire killed at least four Palestinians during a mass protest along the Israel-Gaza border.

The Islamic militant Hamas rulers of Gaza have staged the near-weekly protests since March 30. Over 120 Palestinians have been killed, drawing international criticism of Israel. With some protesters hurling firebombs and sending explosives-laden kites, Israel says it is defending its sovereign border, and accuses Hamas of trying to carry out attacks under the guise of the mass protests.

(AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

(AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

Israel has emerged as one of the world's most gay-friendly travel destinations in recent years, in sharp contrast to the rest of the Middle East where gay culture is often not tolerated or even persecuted.

In Israel, homosexuals serve openly in Israel's military and parliament, and many popular artists and entertainers are homosexual. Among Palestinians, most homosexuals tend to be secretive about their social lives and some have crossed into Israel to live safely.

(AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

(AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

Sahreef Awad, an Arab participant from Israel, said "There's no difference between anyone, it's just like, you know, culture, color, nationality, it doesn't matter, come one, it's like, we are all people, that's what matters, love is love, so love wins, yeah!"

Some critics have accused Israel of "pinkwashing," or using its tolerance for gay culture to deflect criticism of harsh policies against the Palestinians.

Religious leaders and civil rights activists condemned what authorities said Sunday was an act of arson that heavily damaged a historic Mississippi synagogue that had been bombed decades ago for its congregation's role in the civil rights movement. One person was arrested for investigation of arson, authorities said.

The fire ripped through the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson shortly after 3 a.m. on Saturday, authorities said. No congregants or firefighters were injured in the blaze. Firefighters arrived to find flames billowing out of windows and all doors to the synagogue locked, the chief of investigations for the Jackson Fire Department, Charles D. Felton Jr., said in a statement.

Local and federal officials, including from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, arrested a person for investigation of arson at a hospital where that person had non-life threatening burns, Felton said. The name of the suspect wasn't being immediately released, Felton said late Sunday.

A spokesperson for the Jackson FBI said they were “working with law enforcement partners on this investigation.”

Photos showed the charred remains of an administrative office and synagogue library, where several Torahs were destroyed or damaged.

Local and national officials, religious figures and activists condemned the fire at the 160-year-old synagogue, the largest in Mississippi and the only one in Jackson.

It was the site of a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1967 — a response to the congregation’s role in civil rights activities, according to the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, which also houses its office in the building. The home of the synagogue’s rabbi, an outspoken critic of racial segregation, was also bombed two months later by the same group.

“That history reminds us that attacks on houses of worship, whatever their cause, strike at the heart of our shared moral life,” CJ Rhodes, a prominent Black Baptist pastor in Jackson, said in a Facebook post.

The arson underscores the importance of interfaith solidarity in standing up to hate and bigotry, said Jim Berk, CEO of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Los Angeles-based organization focused on combating antisemitism.

“It was an assault on the heart of Jewish life in the South, and on a legacy shaped in partnership with the Black community through the long, unfinished struggle for civil rights,” Berk said in a statement. “This attack is not only an act of antisemitism, it is an assault on that legacy, testing whether the lessons of that era still hold.”

“That it has been attacked again, amid a surge of antisemitic incidents across the US, is a stark reminder: antisemitic violence is escalating, and it demands total condemnation and swift action from everyone,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of The Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement.

The Beth Israel congregation is assessing damage but will continue its regular worship programs and services for Shabbat, the weekly Jewish Sabbath, likely at one of the local churches that reached out, said Michele Schipper, CEO of the Institute of Southern Jewish Life and a past president of the congregation.

"We are a resilient people," said Beth Israel Congregation President Zach Shemper. “With support from our community, we will rebuild.”

One Torah that survived the Holocaust was behind glass and was not damaged in the fire, Schipper said. Five Torahs inside the sanctuary are being assessed for smoke damage. Two Torahs inside the library, where the most severe damage was done, were destroyed, according to a synagogue representative.

The floors, walls and ceiling of the sanctuary were covered in soot, and the synagogue will have to replace upholstery and carpeting.

FILE - This Nov. 2, 2018 photo shows an armed Hinds County Sheriff's deputy outside of the Beth Israel Congregation synagogue in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, file)