Israeli cabinet: Above is the original photo. Beneath is the photo
from Yated Neeman that replaced the women ministers with men.
Western leaders have been expressing their dismay about a new law in Afghanistan that would set back the role of women by making them essentially stay-at-home servants obliged to answer to their husbands every whim.
But really Afghan customs pertaining to the role of women are no less objectionable than those of certain groups of Orthodox Jews in Israel.
It turns out that two ultra-Orthodox newspapers have doctored a photo of Israel's new cabinet in order to 'delete' the women ministers. The much more offensive personage of Avigdor Lieberman remains un-erased.
Expunged on the pages of Yated Neeman are the female ministers Limor Livnat and Sofa Landver. Adding insult to injury the deleted women have been replaced with men. The other Orthodox paper, Shaa Tova, simply blacked-out the women as though they are non-existent beings.
The comparison with Afghanistan doesn't end with the deletion of women's images. Take Beit Shemesh for example, an ultra-Orthodox enclave west of Jerusalem. The women in this community are required to wear burqa-like coverings. The head covering they wear is named a 'sal'.
Orthodox Beit Shemesh woman
A Beit Shemesh woman named only "M" explained that the habit of women being covered from head-to-toe began with the Jews, not the Muslims... at least in her opinion:
Link also to report from BBC.
"The full body, or full face covering that people think is only part of the Arab world actually started with Jewish women... Muslim women are imitating Jews to try to gain God's favour with modesty. The truth is that the women of Israel are lessening in God's eyes because the Arabs are more modest in dress."
Link also to report from BBC.
