Pictures of female suicide bombers removed after outcry

THE Israeli journalists’ union yesterday took down a series of pictures that superimposed the faces of female Palestinian suicide bombers on Madonna and child paintings after the images sparked a public furore.

Yossi Bar-Mocha, the head of the National Federation of Israeli Journalists, said his organisation removed the pictures from its Tel Aviv headquarters for fear they would offend people who lost relatives in militant attacks.

One of the artists, Galina Bleikh, said their intention was not to glorify or justify the bombers’ actions.