Tuesday, June 26, 2007

alJazeera on Israeli swimsuit models

alJazeera Magazine:
In an attempt to improve its tainted image, the Israeli consulate in New York came up with what could be described as a cheap idea: resorting to pornography by publishing images of half-naked female soldiers in the U.S. men’s magazine Maxim; a move that was strongly condemned by Israel’s religious right, who said that the government was degrading the Jewish state and promoting sex tourism. ...
Maxim magazine, which promises its readers "girls, sex, sports" and usually avoids politics, initially refused the Israeli consulate’s request to publish the photographs, but it changed its mind after it saw the pictures of 12 of Israel’s top models.

Modern life can be both interesting and sometimes puzzling. Al Jazeera is providing detailed (and critical) coverage of Israel's "bikini scandal"--the perhaps ill considered tourism initiative to promote publication in Maxim magazine of revealing photos of Israeli swimsuit models. (No, I'm not providing a link. I have enough problems...)

The critique requires some creative triangulation, coupling comments from both feminist and Jewish and Muslim religious/family values spokespersons--not your conventional bedfellows. The associated reader comments, from readers around the world, are a trip in themselves.

With all the problems of the region and the world, may this be the worst.

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