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Ultra-Orthodox Israeli newspaper Photoshops out female world leaders from Charlie Hebdo rally

The Washington Post/January 14, 2015

 By Terrence McCoy

The bar game “Photo Hunt” is so simple that drunkards across the nation can grasp it. The concept: Look at two pictures that seem identical, but are not. Then try to spot the differences between the two. It’s a fun game, sure. For a bar.

It’s rare that geopolitics would necessitate such ocular dexterity.

But that’s exactly what happened this week for the readers of ultra-Orthodox Israeli newspaper HaMevaser, who awoke to find an image from Sunday’s march to honor the victims of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack in Paris splashed across its front page. At first glance, all appeared as it should. There was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There was French President Francois Hollande. There was Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Then things got weird. A few faces were missing. A few female faces, to be exact. And those faces belonged to some of the most powerful women in the world, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. That’s right: The Israeli newspaper had edited out all of the women in the photograph. In addition to Merkel, gone was Anne Hidalgo, the first female mayor of Paris. Gone was European Union foreign affairs and security chief Federica Mogherini. And gone was Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt — leaving behind a gloved hand, suspended in mid-air without its host.

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