Some 5,000 participants are expected to take part in the 10th annual gay pride parade in Jerusalem.

Thursday's parade will pass through the city's central streets, including the spot where three parade participants were stabbed in 2005. The parade also comes the same week as an attack on a Tel Aviv gay club three years ago, in which two people were killed.

American Jewish philanthropist Lynn Schusterman will address the parade.

According to the director of Jerusalem's Open House, a center for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, the parade hopes to make the city a more open place.

"Our goal for the next 10 years is not just to be seen during the one day a year of the day on the parade, but on the other 364 days per year as well," Open House director Elinor Sidi told The Jerusalem Post.

via jta.org