I won’t claim to be up on every scurrilous low to which the U.S. media have descended during Campaign 2008, but one Israeli newspaper and its affiliate site have fallen to a new low with the publication of what is likely the note Barack Obama placed into the cracks of the Western Wall during his recent visit to Israel.
In a tightly packed schedule, Obama hit all the Israeli high spots, capping it off with a pre-dawn visit to Jerusalem’s Western Wall. As is traditional among visitors (Jewish and Gentile alike), Obama placed a handwritten note in the cracks between the massive stones laid in the days of Herod the Great.
These notes are believed to provide a direct line of communication with the Almighty, and hundreds are placed every day by people seeking comfort, healing, and other support. They are periodically cleaned and placed in traditional Jewish document burial vaults. Jewish tradition prohibits desecration of God’s name on documents through burning, tearing or other forms of destruction.
Well, lo and behold, people tried to find Obama’s note, and began pulling them out of the Wall and reading them. One early report talked about someone who claimed to have found Obama’s note, but it turned out that message was written in Spanish.
On July 25, Maariv (Israel’s second-largest daily) printed an image of what it claimed was Obama’s note. The image reproduced on the newspaper’s Hebrew-language site NRG appears to be on King David Hotel stationery (where Obama stayed). It says in part, “Lord, Protect my family and me. Forgive me my sins and help me guard against pride and despair.” Nothing about winning an election in November. Obama’s campaign declined to confirm or deny the note.
The same day, Yedioth Ahronoth (Israel’s largest daily) ran an item saying they had Obama’s note — but declined to reveal it to protect his privacy.
By Sunday (after the Jewish Sabbath) the backlash against Maariv had set in. The Associated Press reported this statement made by the rabbi in charge of the Western Wall to Israel Army Radio: “The notes placed between the stones of the Western Wall are between a person and his maker. It is forbidden to read them or make any use of them.” Their publication “damages the Western Wall and damages the personal, deep part of every one of us that we keep to ourselves.”
Maariv — often described in Israel as the most “yellow” of Israel’s newspapers — did, indeed, cross the line here. This invasion of privacy goes farther than pawing through someone’s garbage and smacks of sneaking into a bedroom window at night and reading items written in a personal diary.
Even in an age where people’s personal thoughts and actions are available on their Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter pages, this is dipping to a new low. It saddened but didn’t surprise me that an Israeli newspaper did this: Standards here are non-existent, and Israeli media and paparazzi are notorious for their hounding of celebrities. It’s a bad combination of Israeli isolation (that is, Israel loves mainstream Western pop culture, but we’re starved for actual celebrity visits), and rudeness (perhaps necessary for survival here, but not an endearing trait). Israeli media reflect those aspects of our society. It’s not a pretty picture.
Maariv issued this statement (English version from Jerusalem Post) regarding its actions: “Barack Obama’s note was approved for publication in the international media even before he put in [Western Wall], a short time after he wrote it at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. In any case, since Obama is not a Jew, publishing the note does not constitute an infringement on his right to privacy.” The paper added that it was “pleased” with its “journalistic accomplishment,” according to the Post.
In my view, Maariv’s statement about Obama’s privacy not being at risk because he is not a Jew is pure demagoguery and religious bigotry. Nothing in Judaism abrogates privacy rights to non-Jews. In fact, equal treatment of non-Jews in a place controlled by Jewish law is an ancient tradition.
