Israel: Women Photoshopped From Cabinet Picture To Cater To The Ultra-Orthodox

JERUSALEM — Two women serve in Israel's new Cabinet, but some Israelis would rather not see them.

Newspapers aimed at ultra-Orthodox Jewish readers tampered with the inaugural photograph of the Cabinet, erasing ministers Limor Livnat and Sofa Landver.

Ultra-Orthodox newspapers consider it immodest to print images of women.

The daily Yated Neeman digitally changed the photo, moving two male ministers into the places formerly occupied by the women.

The weekly Shaa Tova simply blacked the women out, in a photo reprinted Friday by the mainstream daily Maariv.

No response was available from the two papers.

During the election, campaign posters featuring female candidate Tzipi Livni were defaced near ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods.

Comments

[carlgt1]

all zealots are crazily alike!

[WilliamL]

How is this religious fundamentalism any different than any other religious fundamentalism?

[JanPoore]

It's not. It's just as offensive, ignorant and archaic. As a woman and a (secular) Jew, it really offends me. I don't believe in organized religion - it's all MAN-made - and this is a good example of why. More wars have been fought and more people have been killed in the name of religion than anything else.

[dmcohen]

"It's just as offensive, ignorant and archaic."

I'll give you offensive---I can certainly see that. And while I'd argue that such chumras (stringencies) are a modern-day, not ancient phenomenon, I understand your intent with "archaic." But I question "ignorant." This word means there is a lack of knowledge. What knowledge do you think the newspaper editors or their rabbaim must lack in order to make such a ruling---i.e., that images of women should not be displayed in haredi media because such display violates principles of tznius (modesty)?

[JacksonJones]

Well, on the one hand you have this sort of photo altering nonsense, and in some other forms of fundamentalism, you have the putting out of eye, chopping off of hands and sentencing a woman to be raped. To me, there is some difference, even though I think the position taken by this small newpaper is rediculous and wrong.

[almazza98]

I never heard of a woman who is sentenced to be raped. Who does that? That is awful.

[LincolnParkChicago]

This incident happened last summer in Jerusalem. In Jeusalem! Erasing the image of women from a photo is the least of this problem. There is a video attached to this Haaretz article of the terrified woman.

"A group of men who police suspect were hired by an ultra-Orthodox gang recently broke into a Jerusalem woman's home and beat her because they deemed her immodest.
The so-called "Modesty Guard" is suspected of being behind the incident. The gang has been known to unleash extortion, mercenaries, violence and surveillance on less religious Jews they deem sacrilegious. They claim to do it all in the name of God. "

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1009580.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modesty_patrol

[dmcohen]

Yes, it's a terrible hillul Hashem, as almost all Haredim would agree. And you've publicized it quite effectively here, sometimes repeating the same post verbatim.

[Macready]

what a democracy . . . female cabinet ministers airbrushed out, olmert, lieberman, netanyahoo, and someone else all facing criminal charges of some kind, the continued building of illegal settlements, the continued ghettoisation of the Palestinians, a refusal of an independent enquiry into war crimes committed during Operation Cast Lead . . and our craven congress still support this country . . . it is so corrupt and amoral it beggars belief and this is where they sent our hard earned tax dollars and even have allow a hot line to the Pentagon to get arms . . something denied to even our good buddies in Britain . . . and this is American foreign policy in the Middle East . . . what a joke

[JacksonJones]

I truly regret that some people in Israel have excercised their press freedom rights in a way that you disapprove of, but that is hardly an indication of a lack of democracy.

[almazza98]

Oh, there are a WHOLE LOT OF THINGS that shows Israel's lack of Democracy, this news story doesn't even come close to it.

[chaos4700]

Digitally altering photos is your idea of freedom of press? Lying is not protected speech, you know.

[newshawk14]

Let me be blunt, screw the ultra-orthodox, women are our equals, and anything or anybody that
attempts to deny this, should be met with utter contempt.

[SFTor]

It is possible I don't know enough about Israel, but I know this:

The country is becoming increasingly radicalized, and its politics are increasingly dominated by Orthodox Jewish parties.

The country is pursuing a policy of making a Palestinian state impossible by dividing the Palestinian territory into an ever greater number of isolated pockets. There is no respect or acknowledgment of the Palestinian people to be seen in this.

The policy started in 1949, when 300 Palestinian villages in the border regions of the new Israel were razed overnight. It continues to this day with annexations, illegal settlements, and the building of physical walls that make existence increasingly difficult for ordinary Palestinians.

The Israli Defense Forces are occupying a large portion of the Palestinian territories. As the occupant it is responsible for the death, suffering and displacement the occupation engenders.

This from a country that was founded to offer an end to discrimination and oppression of human beings. The idea that this very state is able to carry out much oppression on its own, externally and apparently internally as well, is particularly disappointing.

The intransigent views of women from the Israeli far right is just another sign that something is rotten in Israel.

[goldhillnv]

Sounds like a radical Muslim country.

[jeanrenoir]

This is what it has come to, isn't it? Orthodox Jews are as out of step with contemporary American values as are fundamentalist Muslims, and now it's the fanatical Orthodox zealots who must be appeased in Israel at all costs by the corrupt Israeli officials who are more and more making Israel seem like a bit of a kleptocracy, rather than a paragon of democracy. The story of Israel since 1948 seems more and more like a tragic episode from the history of Ancient Israel in the Bible. Over and over the Hebrews got wealthy, arrogant, and corrupt, and were terribly punished by God. It's hard to see a good outcome for Israel now either. If they truly are nuts enough to bomb Iran and cause widespread economic ruin, the loss of political support in Middle America (which once felt okay about banks and mutual funds, too--REMEMBER?) will be as deadly for Israel as any supposed missile attack from Iran. Yet Israel acts as arrogantly as Wall St. bankers passing out bonuses after the fall. They truly don't get it. The times they have a changed, and if Obama has to stand up to Israel, or condemn Israel for bombing Iran, he will be wildly CHEERED for either action, just as he was when he fired the CEO of GM. The days of the Israeli tail wagging the American dog ended with the folly of the neocon war in Iraq to "protect" Israel.

[JacksonJones]

It's hard to see the connection between your rant and the photoshopping of a photo in a small parochial newspaper. Should people around the globe judge the US by what some small-town Christian fundamentalist newspaper does? It would hardly seem fair.

[JohnnyLee]

Iraq war about Israel? Stop saying lies. Iraq war was, supposedly, about Saddam using WMD against the US. Last I checked George Bush and Dick Cheney are not jews.

p.s. the whole world condemned Israel for bombing Iraq's nuclear power plant. I don't think anyone is still angry about that one.

[Aziat]

no, it doesn't. Read the article, dont generalize

[JacksonJones]

In a radical country, this would be the policy at the largest newspapaers, not just a small paper serving a highly parochial audience. There is no doubt that there are newpapaers across the US that contain content that you and I would find to be abbhorent, too. Press freedom makes that almost inevitable.

[chaos4700]

The difference being that sensible people will criticize, denounce and boycott news outlets that attempt outright deception and misrepresentation of the public record. I'm still confused as to where you stand, I'm not sure I've read anything by you condemning the oppression of the very image of women in the news?

[MrsFonebone]

One of these days women will be equals; and backwards-thinking, authoritarian, oh-so-threatened males who derive their "authority" from a primitive tribal god will die off.
Just think, if these were say, blacks being removed from the picture to avoid offending racists, everyone would be up in arms. But women? Nobody cares.

[JacksonJones]

People clearly care, since this has become a newsstory, but it is not a big newsstory becuase it happened in a small newspaper with a very narrow audience, not some major paper. If you're looking for indicators as to Israel's culture at large as it relates to women, it bears noting that Israel had a female head of state well before most other countries and that a party headed by a women won the most votes in the most recent parliamentary election, and only failed to become PM due to the mix of parties that finished behind hers.

[HuffCritic]

The comments here are IGNORANT. You know nothing about Israel, and you know nothing about what's mainstream in that country.

Claiming that those newspapers and those who doctor photos represent Israel is like claiming that Pat Buchanan is mainstream America.

The mainstream media in Israel (papers and TV) did not doctor anything. Secularism is mainstream in Israel. So is multiculturalism, too much skin on TV, and gays being able to be celebrities instead of persecuted like in Gaza. Israel is a western society that has many diverse groups. One paper doctors some photos and you think the entire country is a Jewish taliban?

Here is a videoclip from Big Brother VIP. You might notice some skin. What you won't know is which two celebrities here are gay.

That's mainstream. Is that a country that doctors women out of photos? Maybe you wanna check in with Israel's neighbors for that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHw314bQQvE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt9dB54DL80&feature=related

[RationalRadioJack]

Tell me what represents Israel.....

White phosphorus.

Killing innocent children...or perhaps the elderly...or just anyone at random?

Not allowing help to get to wounded children?

Not allowing food and medication to the elderly.

What part of this should we not understand?

[jeanrenoir]

Let's just hope that American and Israeli Jews READ these American comments expressing genuine outrage towards the powers in Israel (and their fanatical American backers) who indeed do NOT represent all Israelis or a majority of American Jews, most of whom are liberal and overwhelmingly supported Obama. Nonetheless, the Israelis just elected Netanyahu, not a Jewish Obama. This was a foolish, and potentially disastrous move, on the part of a slight majority of Israeli voters, fully comparable to the folly of Americans who voted for George Bush, a virtual ventriloquist's dummy for conservative Israel and the neocons, TWICE, bringing us the unbelievable neocon folly of Iraq. Bombing Iran, however, will make the invasion of Iraq look like Churchillean statesmanship. If conservative Jews don't wake up, they will suffer the political fate of Wall St. bankers, who also thought their money guaranteed carte blanche in America. The American public is teetering on the brink of being as anti-Israel as Europeans are. If Israel bombs Iran, it will push Americans over the edge, dooming Israel in the end.

[barrycourage]

The fabrications, especially those that twist or distort or exaggerate facts or remove them from the context.

[Macready]

thank you RationalRadioJack . . .

[LincolnParkChicago]

You seem to be saying that the country is tolerant and cosmopolitan. It is not. You speak of tolerance of gays. Were there not riots when gays tried to hold a march a year ago or so? Are there not very Taliban like groups of religious who tell shop owners whether the goods they offer are acceptable or not? And enforce their opinions with violence and intimidation?

In Jerusalem, a woman is beaten up for refusing to sit in the back a public bus (where women belong?!). The criminal escaped thru a locked gate. Only the police and army had keys. The implication is he was helped by someone in authority.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=801449&contrassID=19%20-%20769k

In Israel, a Jewish girl has acid thrown in her face for wearing immodest clothes (short sleeve shirt) by Jewish morality police Vaad Hatznius. The article talks about the tension between seculars and religious in this town. Is there such tension in many towns?
http://www.vosizneias.com/16774/2008/06/05/israel-vaad-hatznius-suspected-of-spilling-acid-on-teenage-girl/

[JohnnyLee]

Women have complete equality under the law. A women has been Prime Minister. Women can serve in the army even in combat brigades. A women can become a Rabbi.

As a joke Jewish women are often called "Princesses" because Jewish men notoriously prize their daughters so much that they spoil them.

Compare that to any other country in the region.

[SFTor]

I would recommend that all visitors to this thread take the time to read the links posted by LincolnParkChicago. Very interesting reading. I would even suggest reading some of the comments. They are quite enlightening.

[ebanks84]

This just proves that prejudices are masked as being religious reasons for the same. Religion has nothing to with mistreatment of women period. It's just old time prejudices and behaviors that these people do not wish to give up.

[LincolnParkChicago]

“ "Thank God I was not born a woman.” Really, this is a daily morning prayer of Orthodox male Jews! There is no comparable prayer for women." Interview with Herb Silverman.
http://www.eloquentatheist.com/?p=83

[barrycourage]

Do you expect a religion that dates back more than 5,000 years to understand concepts like gender identity and transgenderism?

And what is your religion? What non-progressive tenets does it espouse?

This cherry picking of what liberals consider to be obnoxious dogma in Judaism is pure anti-Semitism.

Unless you apply the same standard to other religions and discuss their dogma.

[dmcohen]

Actually, the corresponding prayer for women is "sheasani k'rtzono," "Who has made me according to His Will." And all the commentators on these brochas agree that Jewish men are obligated to say this brocha for one reason only: because Torah law obligates them in a greater number of commandments than it does Jewish women. Note that these are ancient and medieval commentators, not modern ones, and so this explanation cannot be written off as a modern apologist "spin" to bring Judaism more in line with present-day secular philosophy. This was ALWAYS the only reason for saying this brocha.

[caremore]

this is just frightening to me.....how few women there are and how easily they can be dismissed and "rubbed" out.

[primeelite]

Israel is as bad as other countries in that area as far as human rights, actually even worse after the latest military offensive. Israel does so many things that conflict with what America is about and I don't see why we continue to be puppets to them.

[forpeacealways]

Oh really I have never heard of a country dropping leaflets, calling, and texting people that live in areas they are going to attack.

[Macready]

big deal . . they couldn't get out . . it was just a PR exercise . .. and why did they ban journalists from going into Gaza .. .because the israeli's didn't want what they were planning to do reported . . .

[chaos4700]

Well I've heard of just one country that blockades a strip of land containing a million and a half people, turning it into a veritable open air prison, then proceeds to bomb any and every sort of structure therein. Including the UN facilities, which ostensibly should have been the safest place for refugees to congregate. Guess text messages didn't do much good. Certainly didn't help any Palestinians who don't have cell phones, or unlisted numbers even.

[jeanrenoir]

Let's hope that conservative Jews in America and Israel read sincere, and completely morally understandable, comments from Americans like primeelite above--before it's too late, and Netanyahu has made Israel itself as unpopular with Americans as George Bush and the horrendous crew of neocons who got American into Iraq to "protect" Israel. Americans all GET this neocon responsibility for the Iraq disaster, and they are thus already angry over the influence of conservative Jews who got us into that fiasco. America's relationship with Israel is in BAD shape. If Israel bombs Iran, it will have pulled the pin on its own political grenade which will blow political support for Israel to smithereens, just as the Wall St. bankers blew their own support away already, with their own blind hubris.

[eden4barack08]

Wow...and then they cry about the Muslims being radical.

[george389]

...and they're not??

most Israelis are actually extremely secular

[baffy]

Doesn't matter if they have to include the orthodox to form a government.

[UncleJimbo]

Does this not prove that ALL Religions are Goofy?

[unite4change]

Checkout these videos:

http://democracyandsocialism.com/Videos.html

[davidwayneosedach]

Hey maybe we ought to do the same thing here in the U.S!