Pro-femme magazine Ms. recently got a spanking in the Jewish community for rejecting the ad at left. It features images of three Israeli women in power: president Dorit Beinisch of Israel’s Supreme Court, foreign minister Tzipi Livni, and speaker Dalia Itzik, above the words, “This is Israel.”
The American Jewish Congress — which submitted the ad — said Ms. first approved it, then rejected it at the last minute under grounds it would “set off a firestorm,” which, as often happens, it did anyway.
“Since there is nothing about the ad itself that is offensive, it is obviously the nationality of the women pictured that the management of Ms. fears their readership would find objectionable,” deduced president Richard Gordon of the American Jewish Congress. (Because when people reject us without explaining themselves, it’s obviously because we’re brown.)
In response, Ms. pointed out Tzipi Livni’s career and accomplishments are profiled in its current issue.
Ms. also said the ad was rejected because two of the public features are in the same party (Kadima), which inevitably slants favor. And the “This is Israel” slogan suggests Israeli women hold equal positions of power.
“When Ms. featured Speaker Pelosi on its cover with the words ‘This is What a Speaker Looks Like,’ we did not claim that ‘This is what the USA looks like,'” stated executive editor Katherine Spillar.
“Israel, like every other country, has far to go to reach equality for women.”
