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Nude model's Western Wall photo shoot sparks anger | Nude model's Western Wall photo shoot sparks anger |
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A Belgian artist has faced a backlash in Israel after posing nude in front of one of Judaism's most sacred sites. | A Belgian artist has faced a backlash in Israel after posing nude in front of one of Judaism's most sacred sites. |
Marisa Papen posted the image of herself reclining naked on a rooftop overlooking the Western Wall in Jerusalem. | Marisa Papen posted the image of herself reclining naked on a rooftop overlooking the Western Wall in Jerusalem. |
The rabbi of the site described the incident as "grave and lamentable". | |
Last year, Ms Papen was briefly detained after taking naked photos at an ancient Egyptian temple in Luxor. | |
In a post on her personal website on Saturday entitled "The Wall of Shame", the model said her experiences in Egypt had made her want "to push the boundaries [sic] of religion and politics even further... [by] showing my personal religion in a world where freedom is becoming a very luxurious thing". | |
She said her three-day visit to Israel had coincided with the 70th anniversary of its founding, and the controversial opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem in May. | |
Photos from the trip showed the model in the Dead Sea and straddling an Israeli flagpole. | |
But the most provocative image was of Ms Papen posing naked in view of the Western Wall. It is a remnant from the time of the biblical second Jewish temple and the most sacred place where Jewish people can pray. | But the most provocative image was of Ms Papen posing naked in view of the Western Wall. It is a remnant from the time of the biblical second Jewish temple and the most sacred place where Jewish people can pray. |
Jewish religious authorities were quick to condemn the photograph. | |
The Rabbi of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinovich, told Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper: "This is an embarrassing incident, grave and lamentable, which offends the sanctity of the site and the feelings of those who visit the holy places." | |
Some of those commenting online accused Ms Papen of anti-Semitism and of deliberately excluding the Dome of the Rock and religious sites sacred to Muslims, just out of shot, to protect Muslim sensitivities. | Some of those commenting online accused Ms Papen of anti-Semitism and of deliberately excluding the Dome of the Rock and religious sites sacred to Muslims, just out of shot, to protect Muslim sensitivities. |
However, the model insisted that this was not the case. "It was just way better artistically," she told The Times of Israel. | |
The model's trip to Egypt in September also sparked outrage, after she was photographed naked for a sunglasses advertising campaign from inside the conservative Muslim-majority country. | The model's trip to Egypt in September also sparked outrage, after she was photographed naked for a sunglasses advertising campaign from inside the conservative Muslim-majority country. |
Ms Papen did not have permission from the country's authorities to take the images, and she later said that she and her cameraman had to bribe a policeman who interrupted their shoot at the pyramids in Cairo. | Ms Papen did not have permission from the country's authorities to take the images, and she later said that she and her cameraman had to bribe a policeman who interrupted their shoot at the pyramids in Cairo. |
Describing the negative response of two passers-by, she said: "We tried to explain them that we were making art with the highest respect for Egyptian culture, but they could not see a connection between nudity and art. In their eyes it was porn, or something like that." | Describing the negative response of two passers-by, she said: "We tried to explain them that we were making art with the highest respect for Egyptian culture, but they could not see a connection between nudity and art. In their eyes it was porn, or something like that." |
Their problems increased in a temple in the historic southern city of Luxor, where they were stopped by police and spent a night in an Egyptian prison before being released. | Their problems increased in a temple in the historic southern city of Luxor, where they were stopped by police and spent a night in an Egyptian prison before being released. |