In the summer of 2006, Jerusalem was supposed to host the World Pride festival for the first time in its history and this was meant to culminate in a gay pride parade. The festival, however, met with enormous resistance from representatives of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious communities. Above all, ultra-orthodox Jews did not hesitate to use all means at their disposal to prevent the planned event, including intimidation and threats of physical violence. Their intransigent resistance erupted on the streets of Jerusalem with a wave of violence in the days leading up to the scheduled march.