A New York Hassidic newspaper apologized after photo-shopping Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from the iconic photograph of President Obama watching the Osama bin Laden raid.
The Yiddish-language newspaper, Der Zeitung, altered the official photograph of Obama and staffers watching the May 1 raid to eliminate Clinton and a female staffer, The Jerusalem Post reported Monday.
This not only brought on an uproar in the community, but also defied the conditions for release of the original photo.
"This official White House photograph is being made available only
for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing
by the subject(s) of the photograph," the conditions on the release of
the photograph read. "The photograph may not be manipulated in any way
and may not be used in commercial or political materials,
advertisements, e-mails, products, promotions that in any way suggests
approval or endorsement of the president, the first family, or the White
House."
Der Zeitung released a statement Monday apologizing if the edited image "was seen as offensive," but said it was following Jewish modesty laws when it made the decision to delete Clinton and the staffer from historical record.
"We should not have published the altered picture, and we have conveyed our regrets and apologies to the White House and to the State Department," the statement said, as reported by New York Daily News.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a New York City radio show host and best-selling author, called the photo treatment "absolutely unusual.""I have no idea why they did it, but what I can say is that there is nothing in Judaism that prevents the publication of images of women in power," he said, as reported by New York Daily News. "On the contrary women in positions of power pervade our community."
Source: UPI