U.S. reality TV star Kim Kardashian, second from right, leaves the Cathedral of Saint James after a baptism ceremony for her daughter in Jerusalem’s Old City on April 13, 2015. Photo courtesy of REUTERS/Ammar Awad
*Editors: This photo may only be republished with RNS-KIMK-ISRAEL, originally transmitted on April 16, 2015.
This has gotta be a first: Kim Kardashian is not in the picture.
But it’s happened, in Israel, on an ultra-Orthodox Jewish news website, which covered or blurred her face in a picture taken of her during her stopover in Jerusalem this week.
Kim and husband Kanye West had dinner on Monday (April 13) with Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, but the picture of the three of them was altered.
It showed only Kanye and the mayor, with Kim’s face covered by a picture of a receipt or just blurred to the point of oblivion.
Nissim Ben Haim, an editor at the Kikar HaShabbat website, said Wednesday they removed Kim because she is a “pornographic symbol” who contradicts ultra-Orthodox values, according to The Associated Press.
The mayor tweeted the photo anyway.
Joined @KimKardashian and @kanyewest in #Jerusalem to toast and celebrate hosting them in our beautiful city pic.twitter.com/RX4PKx3E4J
— Mayor Nir Barkat (@NirBarkat) April 13, 2015
The website wasn’t too happy with Barkat, either, because he dined with the couple at a high-end but non-kosher restaurant, and supposedly the bill was was nearly $700.
In its article, the website referred to Kim as merely “West’s wife,” which must have been amusing to both.
Ultra-Orthodox values in Israel are very conservative: Women are expected to remain in the background, their heads usually covered, their dress modest. They are rarely shown in public or in pictures because it’s believed to be immodest.
But judging from the pictures, Kim’s attire while in Jerusalem was relatively modest, for her, including long dresses.
When it comes to being Photoshopped out of history, Kim is in good company: In January, an ultra-Orthodox Israeli newspaper altered a photo taken of European leaders to excise German chancellor Angela Merkel, the only woman in the group.
Kim, Kanye and daughter North West have been on a “roots tour” with some of the Kardashian clan: Last week, they were in their ancestral homeland, Armenia; on Monday, they arrived in Jerusalem, where they visited the Armenian St. James Cathedral to have North baptized.
But by Wednesday, all was back to normal. Kim had moved on to Paris to launch her Kardashian Beauty Hair line, posing for the media in her customary low-cut, sexy frock.
(Maria Puente writes for USA Today)
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