Ultra-Orthodox Israeli website blurrs Kim Kardashian from photo
Richard Ferrer has been editor of Jewish News since 2009. As one of Britain's leading Jewish voices he writes for The Times, Independent, New Statesman and many other titles. Richard previously worked at the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, edited the Boston Jewish Advocate and created the Channel 4 TV series Jewish Mum Of The Year.
An Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish news website has cut Kim Kardashian – one of the world’s most photographed women – from a photo taken of her in Jerusalem this week.
The original photo of Ms Kardashian, her husband Kanye West and Jerusalem’s Mayor Nir Barkat at dinner was altered to hide the reality TV star. She was blurred in another in another photo.
Nissim Ben Haim, an editor at the Kikar HaShabbat website, said they removed Ms Kardashian because she is a “pornographic symbol” who contradicts ultra-Orthodox values.
In an article chiding Mr Barkat for dining with them at a non-kosher restaurant, Ms Kardashian was referred to as “West’s wife”.
Within the insular Ultra-Orthodox community, pictures of women often are not shown out of modesty. In January, an ultra-Orthodox newspaper removed German chancellor Angela Merkel from a photo for that reason.
Orthodox Jewish paper KikarShabbat forfeits record circulation by blurring @KimKardashian out of pic of her in Israel pic.twitter.com/PYZ9o7y52G
— Richard Ferrer (@richferrer) April 15, 2015
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