WATCH: TA Pride Parade in 90 seconds
Times of Israel video: Several thousand tourists, some from as far afield as Casablanca, join 100,000 locals at colorful festival
The city of Tel Aviv marked its 15th annual Gay Pride Parade Friday, with about 100,000 people in attendance, including several thousand tourists who made it into town just for the special event.
Among the many international flags at the festival, a welcome surprise was the Moroccan flag.
“Samir,” a tourist from Casablanca, who can be seen in the second half of the video, danced and proudly waved his country’s flag during the event, to the delight of many Israelis around him, including a police officer who greeted him with “Salaam Aleikum” (peace be upon you).
Some Israelis came up to take pictures with him and his flag, including one who displayed his Israeli flag alongside the Moroccan one.
It’s Samir’s second time in Tel Aviv for the parade, and he says he has many Israeli and Jewish Moroccan friends.
“Morocco was the first country in the Arabic countries to accept the Jewish people — you are always welcome, we are good friends and it’s like family,” he told the Times of Israel.