Golda Meir picture pulled from Egyptian exhibition

Organisers apologise for inclusion of former Israeli prime minister's photograph in exhibition in Giza, which also included Margaret Thatcher and Susan Mubarak.
2 min read
15 June, 2015
Golda Meir was Israeli prime minister during Israel's Yom Kippur war [Getty]
A photo of the former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir has been removed from an Egyptian exhibition on leading women after criticism on social and local media.

Meir's photograph had been included at the event at the Pharonic Village in Giza, an important tourist attraction. The exhibition also included Susan Mubarak, Cleopatra and Margaret Thatcher.

Meir served as Israeli prime minister during Israel's Yom Kippur war against Egypt and Syria in 1973. 

     Photos of the exhibition went viral causing an uproar online and in the local media.
Abdel Salam Ragab, the CEO of the Pharonic Village, told Egypt's state-owned al-Ahram newspaper the decision to include Meir's photograph was a mistake. 

However, he argued the aim was to highlight women's power and not to call for the normalisation of relations with Israel, as some claimed.

"The exhibition has photos of 70 influential women from all over the world, who have had both a positive or a negative influence," Ragab said.

In a phone interview on the Egyptian al-Assema TV channel, Tahani al-Gebali, a former vice president of Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court, described including Meir in the exhibition as "treason".

"Those responsible should be stripped of their Egyptian citizenship. They do not belong to this country after violating the sanctity of our historical figures," Gebali added.

Meanwhile, social media activists and users expressed shock at the display, calling it a "scandal" and an "embarrassment", and criticising those responsible.

"They honour women such as Meir, Nawal al-Saadawi [an Egyptian feminist], and Mona al-Shazli [an Egyptian TV presenter], while they kill and imprison innocent girls," someone tweeted.

"So what? Sisi killed more Egyptians than Meir did," another tweeted.