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Orthodox Jews cut Clinton from White House picture
Yiddish paper protects readers from the sight of Hillary Clinton watching Bin Laden drama unfold
An ultra-orthodox American Jewish newspaper has caused amusement - and outrage - after it digitally removed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from an iconic photograph of US President Barack Obama and his advisers in the White House situation room.
The original picture was released last week in the wake of the killing of Osama bin Laden. It shows members of the national security team receiving updates on the progress of the US Navy Seals team sent to carry out the mission in Pakistan. Evidence of the photograph's iconic status can be inferred from the many bizarrely photoshopped versions of it doing the rounds of the internet.
But the latest version of the photograph has been met with some consternation. Apparently the presence of Clinton and another female, identified as director for counter-terrorism Audrey Tomason, was deemed too sexually suggestive for the Brooklyn-based Yiddish newspaper Der Tzitung (not to be confused with the German daily, Die Zeitung).
According to The Jewish Week, the Brooklyn paper has a long-held policy of not intentionally printing pictures of women, for fear of breaking ultra-orthodox Hasidic Jewish notions of modesty.
However, commenters on Failed Messiah have suggested modesty was not the only reason Clinton and Tomason were removed from a photograph depicting some of the most powerful people in American intelligence circles - and that the idea of women in leadership roles was equally, if not more, offensive to the newspaper.
This theory is supported by the fact that neither woman was immodestly dressed in the original photo: Clinton is wearing a sober black shirt under a tweed jacket, while Tomason, who can barely be seen at all, exposes only a bit of face and wrist.
In airbrushing the two women from history (above), Der Tzitung may have broken the White House's terms and conditions of use for the picture. They state that it "may not be manipulated in any way". ·
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The original picture is now part of American history and no one has the right to change it in any way whether you like it or you don't like it and if you don't like it Der Tzitung, then get out of my Country. You are only enraged because 2 woman were present and hold positions of authority...can't do that in your society, can they? And why not? Stop hiding behind the cloak of Religion! Be men of character and face facts...we are good for more than bed and kitchen!
@jvporter@gmail.com - thats absolutely true. On this and many other matters of faith, there seems to be little difference between ultra orthodox Judaism and ultra conservative Wahabism/Salafism. Both schools of their respective religions have rigid and inflexible interpretations of thier scriptures.
One key difference however, is that Wahabism has the state backing and is funded by Saudi petro dollars, that has turned it from a minor and obsure sect on the fringe into a mainstream school of thought. But nevertheless you are correct to note the similarities of the two idealogies.
Sounds like something muslim extremists wish they had the power to do.
Do these fellows procreate? If they do, how do they do it? May be by remote control!