Jerusalem Open House
Professional services
UnclaimedJerusalem Open House is a Jerusalem-based nonprofit LGBTQ community center providing community, health, education, advocacy, and Pride-related services.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance is a nonprofit LGBTQ organization founded in Jerusalem in 1997. Known in Hebrew as HaBayit HaPatuach and in Arabic as Al-Beit Al-Maftoukh, it operates as a community center, health-services provider, educational organization, and civil-rights advocate. Its work is directed toward LGBTQ people in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, while also addressing the city’s religious, cultural, linguistic, and Israeli-Palestinian diversity. The organization’s community center functions as a social and cultural meeting place. It hosts support and discussion groups, holiday gatherings, workshops, lectures, poetry events, and other activities. Programming is designed for different parts of the LGBTQ community, including youth, older adults, Arabic-speaking and English-speaking participants, and religious or traditionally observant LGBTQ people. The center has also supported connections with LGBTQ synagogues and related communities abroad. Health and psychosocial support are central to the organization’s work. In 2008, Jerusalem Open House opened an anonymous HIV testing and counseling clinic, described as Israel’s first LGBTQ health clinic. The clinic later expanded its sexual-health services to include access to HIV prevention tools such as post-exposure prophylaxis and pre-exposure prophylaxis. The organization also offers lower-cost counseling through a professional unit staffed by therapists and social workers. Its social-services work includes support for LGBTQ youth and teenagers who face risk, family conflict, discrimination, or urgent personal crises. Youth work and public education extend beyond the community center. Jerusalem Open House conducts outreach in schools and provides youth-oriented programming in and around Jerusalem. Its educational advocacy has included seminars and workshops on LGBTQ issues, mental health, therapy, and tolerance. Following the 2015 killing of Shira Banki during the Jerusalem Pride march, the organization established the More le Haim program in her memory. The program uses educational seminars to promote tolerance and improve the environment for LGBTQ young people. Since 2002, Jerusalem Open House has organized Jerusalem’s annual Pride event, now known as the Jerusalem March for Pride and Tolerance. The event followed a successful legal challenge against the city’s refusal to permit a Pride parade. Despite municipal restrictions, violent attacks, threats from extremist groups, and opposition from conservative religious and political actors, the march has continued. It has become one of Jerusalem’s largest public human-rights demonstrations and is accompanied by a wider schedule of lectures, workshops, parties, and cultural events during Pride season. The organization also campaigns on policy and recognition issues. Its advocacy has included opposition to conversion therapy, efforts to secure recognition of LGBTQ victims of the Holocaust in national memorial activities, and support for the admission of LGBTQ candidates to rabbinical training within Israel’s Conservative movement. Jerusalem Open House has maintained relationships with Palestinian LGBTQ participants, while Palestinian LGBTQ organizing has also developed independently, including groups that separated from or evolved beyond the organization’s earlier framework. Jerusalem Open House has faced controversy and security challenges because of the visibility of its work in Jerusalem. In 2014, it rejected false claims linking the organization or its members to the kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir. In 2016, its participation in a Chicago event connected to the Creating Change conference was disrupted amid disputes over Israeli representation and allegations of pinkwashing. These incidents formed part of wider political debates rather than evidence that the organization was responsible for wrongdoing. The organization remains active as a provider of LGBTQ community services and as the organizer of Jerusalem’s annual Pride and Tolerance march.
History
Jerusalem Open House was founded in 1997 as an LGBTQ community organization serving Jerusalem. Its model combined a physical community center with social groups, cultural programming, educational work, and advocacy. Jerusalem’s religious, ethnic, and political complexity shaped the organization’s approach: programming developed for youth, older adults, Arabic-speaking and English-speaking participants, and religiously observant LGBTQ people. The center also facilitated connections with LGBTQ communities and synagogues outside Israel. A major turning point came in 2002, when Jerusalem Open House challenged the city’s refusal to permit a Pride parade. The organization won the case, and the city paid a settlement. From that point onward, it organized the annual Jerusalem March for Pride and Tolerance. The march became the organization’s most visible public activity and an important human-rights event in the city. It also placed the organization at the center of recurring disputes over public space, religion, security, and LGBTQ equality. The march faced a municipal ban attempt in 2005. A district court overturned the restriction, but the event was attacked by Yishai Schlissel, who stabbed three participants. He was convicted of attempted murder and imprisoned. In 2006, Jerusalem Open House hosted WorldPride. The event and the local march attracted threats from radical activists, including declarations of a purported holy war. Rioting occurred in the Mea Shearim neighborhood before the march, injuring police officers and protesters, although the parade itself proceeded without a comparable attack. Jerusalem Open House expanded its health role in 2008 by opening an anonymous HIV testing and counseling clinic. The clinic was described as Israel’s first LGBTQ health clinic and subsequently offered additional HIV-prevention support, including access to PEP and PrEP. The organization also developed low-cost counseling and psychosocial services delivered by therapists and social workers. These services addressed both routine mental-health needs and urgent support for LGBTQ youth and teenagers at risk. The organization’s network also changed over time. Al Qaws, a Palestinian LGBTQ organization, developed separately after its split from Jerusalem Open House in 2007, while Havruta separated in 2010 and focused on religious LGBTQ support. Jerusalem Open House has continued to state that Palestinians have participated in its activities, even as independent Palestinian LGBTQ groups developed their own organizational structures. In 2014, the organization publicly rejected erroneous rumors that Mohammed Abu Khdeir had belonged to it or had been targeted because of an alleged connection to the organization. Jerusalem Open House reiterated its commitment to peace and Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. The following year, the Pride march again suffered a deadly attack. Schlissel, released shortly before the event, stabbed six participants, killing 16-year-old Shira Banki. He received a life sentence after being convicted of six attempted murders. Jerusalem Open House subsequently established the More le Haim educational program in Banki’s memory, using seminars to promote tolerance and support LGBTQ youth. In 2016, the organization became involved in a dispute at the Creating Change conference in Chicago. A planned Shabbat service connected to Jerusalem Open House was canceled, restored, and then protested by activists who alleged that the event constituted pinkwashing. A presentation by Jerusalem Open House members about the 2015 attack was also disrupted. The controversy illustrated the political tensions surrounding international LGBTQ solidarity and Israeli organizations. Alongside the Pride march, Jerusalem Open House continues to provide community groups, youth services, health care, counseling, educational programs, and advocacy. Its campaigns have included opposition to conversion therapy, efforts to recognize LGBTQ Holocaust victims in Israel’s national memorial framework, and support for LGBTQ inclusion in rabbinical education. The organization’s enduring role is that of a Jerusalem-based service and advocacy institution whose public events have made LGBTQ rights visible in one of the world’s most contested cities.
- 2016
Creating Change conference controversy
[1]Jerusalem Open House participation in a Chicago conference event is disrupted amid a dispute over pinkwashing and Israeli representation.
- 2015
Deadly Pride march attack and memorial education program
[1]Six people are stabbed at the march, and Shira Banki dies. Jerusalem Open House later establishes More le Haim in her memory.
- 2008
Open Clinic opens
[1]The organization launches an anonymous HIV testing and counseling clinic and later expands into broader HIV prevention services.
- 2006
WorldPride is hosted in Jerusalem
[1]Jerusalem Open House hosts WorldPride amid significant opposition and security concerns.
- 2005
Pride march is attacked
[1]A court overturns an attempted municipal ban, but Yishai Schlissel stabs three march participants.
- 2002
Annual Jerusalem Pride organizing begins
[1]After winning a legal challenge against the city, Jerusalem Open House begins organizing an annual Pride march in Jerusalem.
- 1997
Jerusalem Open House is founded
[1]The organization begins operating as an LGBTQ community center and advocacy organization in Jerusalem.
Products and positioning
A community-rooted LGBTQ nonprofit combining social services, health care, education, advocacy, and public visibility in Jerusalem.
Public event and advocacy platform · 2002
Jerusalem March for Pride and Tolerance
Jerusalem Open House’s annual Pride event, organized since 2002 after a successful legal challenge against the city. The march is presented as both an LGBTQ visibility event and a broader human-rights demonstration. It is accompanied by lectures, workshops, cultural programs, parties, and other Pride-season activities. Because it takes place in Jerusalem, the event has repeatedly involved disputes over permits, security, religion, public space, and political expression.
LGBTQ health service · 2008
Open Clinic
An anonymous HIV testing and counseling clinic opened by Jerusalem Open House in 2008. The service provides sexual-health information and has expanded to include access to HIV prevention measures such as post-exposure and pre-exposure prophylaxis. It is designed to offer accessible care to LGBTQ people and others seeking confidential testing and guidance.
Mental-health and psychosocial support
Open Counseling Services
A lower-cost counseling and psychosocial support unit staffed by therapists and social workers. It addresses mental-health needs within the LGBTQ community and provides professional guidance, workshops, seminars, and support for youth and teenagers facing risk or emergencies.
Education and tolerance program · 2015
More le Haim
An educational initiative established in memory of Shira Banki after her death in the 2015 Jerusalem Pride attack. The program conducts seminars and related educational activities around Jerusalem to encourage tolerance and create safer, more accepting conditions for LGBTQ youth.
Controversies
2016
Creating Change pinkwashing controversy
A Chicago conference event involving Jerusalem Open House was disrupted by protesters who objected to Israeli participation and alleged pinkwashing. The organization’s presentation about the 2015 Pride attack was also interrupted.
2015
Deadly attack at Jerusalem Pride march
Schlissel attacked the march again shortly after his release from prison. Six people were stabbed, and 16-year-old Shira Banki died. Schlissel was later sentenced to life imprisonment.
2005
Attack on Jerusalem Pride march
Yishai Schlissel stabbed three participants during the 2005 march after the event survived an attempted municipal ban. He was convicted of attempted murder.
Marketing campaigns
- 2006WorldPride Jerusalem
Jerusalem · International
Jerusalem Open House hosted WorldPride, using an international LGBTQ event to increase visibility and solidarity while navigating strong local opposition.
Outcome. The event took place amid protests and security concerns; the organization continued its local Pride work.
- 2002Right to hold the Jerusalem Pride march
Jerusalem · Israel
Jerusalem Open House challenged the City of Jerusalem’s refusal to permit a Pride parade. The legal action established the organization’s right to organize the event and enabled the annual Jerusalem Pride tradition.
Outcome. The organization won the case, received a municipal settlement, and continued organizing the march.
- Opposition to conversion therapy
Israel
The organization campaigns against conversion therapy and advocates for LGBTQ-affirming approaches to mental health and social care.
- Recognition of LGBTQ Holocaust victims
Israel
Jerusalem Open House advocates recognition of LGBTQ victims of the Holocaust and their inclusion in Israel’s national Holocaust memorial activities.
Brand decisions
2015
Creation of the More le Haim programStrategyBackground
The program was created after Shira Banki was killed during the Jerusalem Pride march.
Action taken
Jerusalem Open House established a citywide educational initiative focused on tolerance and the well-being of LGBTQ youth.
Aftermath
The initiative extended the organization’s response beyond the annual march into continuing public education.
2008
Launch of the Open ClinicProduct launchBackground
The organization sought to address LGBTQ-specific health needs, including confidential HIV testing and counseling.
Action taken
Jerusalem Open House opened an anonymous HIV clinic and later added PEP and PrEP-related services.
Aftermath
The clinic became a core part of the organization’s health-services portfolio.
Sources2 sources
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