Israeli Women Bare Breasts, Butts On Facebook Page To Show Support For Soldiers
A Facebook page that went on line Wednesday, inviting women to bare their breasts, buttocks and strike generally suggestive poses as a show of support for Israeli Defense Force troops in Gaza has already accumulated over 9,000 “likes,” but has some observers wondering if that type of support is really appropriate.
The Facebook page “Standing With IDF” can be accessed at this link — but please be aware before clicking that some of the images may be considered mildly NSFW.
Most of the photos on the Israeli Facebook page show young women striking somewhat risqué poses, in a “selfie” style that appears intended more for boyfriends or young husbands rather than the general public. But most have penned slogans supportive of the IDF troops on their exposed flesh in felt marker.
The page’s Israeli founder, Gavriel Beyo, says that he believes the images of attractive, scantily-clad women proclaiming their support for the IDF troops in Gaza, where 32 Israeli soldiers have been killed as of July 24, the first full week of ground combat, will help remind the soldiers, “what you’re fighting for and what is waiting for you back home.”
“We have two bountiful resources in Israel that are impossible to compete with, Israeli minds and the most beautiful women in the world,” Beyo wrote on the Facebook site. “We also have a military front so why not combine the two?”
But some critics of the site, such as Salon Magazine Assistant Editor Jenny Kutner, question whether posing semi-nude is an appropriate response to a military conflict in which nearly 800 people, mostly Palestinians, have so far been killed.
“There’s no doubt an argument to be made that those Standing With IDF are simply using nudity to celebrate freedom and those who protect it. The images could also imply that Israeli citizens will go about their lives even in the face of war, and that might mean getting topless for the camera,” Kutner writes. “Regardless of the explanation, my hope is that there is one and that Standing With IDF has some deeper meaning I don’t see. Because a lot of people are dying, and that isn’t usually why people decide to show their boobs.”
The Israeli “Standing With IDF” site is actually the second time in recent months that topless photography has been used to show support for a cause that otherwise seems grim. Supermodel Irina Shayk, known as the girlfriend of soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, posed topless for the #BringBackOurGirls campaign aimed at raising awareness of the 276 Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by the Boko Haram terror group.
