After Swedish home furnishing giant IKEA distributed a separate store catalog in Israel, excluding pictures of women, Ynet reported on Wednesday, then apologized after enormous criticism The furniture retailer – which has three chains in Israel – aimed the new catalog at ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel,
“Due to requests we received, we decided to launch an alternative and special catalog, which allows the religious communities to enjoy thumbing through our products and the solutions that IKEA offers in accordance with their lifestyle,” Ynet reported.
The move sparked a wave of criticism from social media users.
“Where did the mother go in this picture?” one user asked, referring to an image of a family meal that only portrays a father and his sons.
“Oh this is great. I didn’t know there are single-parent families in the Haredi (ultra religious) sector too,” another user said.
The ultra orthodox community in Israel views any photos of women as being sinful, and it’s not uncommon for young men to use normal catalogs for masturbatory material.
