JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Jerusalem municipality removed an LGBT Pride banner hanging outside of the U.S. Embassy’s Palestinian Affairs Unit located in the center of the city.

The municipality said the banner, which was removed Tuesday, violated municipal signage bylaws and required city approval, according to reports.

It was rehung that evening following talks between the embassy and the municipality, NPR reported.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Deputy Mayor Arieh King, a right-wing activist, had ordered the removal.

“Anybody that tries to defile Jerusalem’s sanctity should be opposed,” King told the right-wing Arutz 7, or Israel National News, on Tuesday. “That’s true in the case of an Israeli body, and definitely if it is a guest coming to the city.”

The banner reads “PRIDE: The U.S. Embassy Jerusalem proudly supports tolerance and diversity.” It was hung ahead of a scheduled Pride rally to be held in a park across the street from the embassy building.

King spoke to NPR about the banner being rehung.

“I am surprised that the embassy decided not only to break the law, but also to put up a sign that the majority of residents oppose. Why take sides on a controversial issue and put up a sign on our street?” King said. “Most of the Jews, Christians and Muslims in the city oppose it.”

Last year, the State Department refused to allow the U.S. Embassy in Israel to fly a Pride flag on a flagpole, one of four embassies ordered to not do so. Instead, the U.S. Embassy branch office in Tel Aviv decorated its building with rainbow banners for the city’s Pride parade.

The post Jerusalem removes Pride banner from US Embassy building over signage bylaws appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount