# Obama's Western Wall prayer published by Israeli newspaper. Invasion of privacy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 26, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821 "2008-07-26T03:44:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/61 "2008-07-29T19:32:06Z")
[QUOTE=kaylasdad99] This reads like an admission that the paper was planning on obtaining the prayer all along. Anybody else see it that way? [/QUOTE] I’ll go one further: I wouldn’t be surprised if they planned it and paid the kid to take it. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/62 "2008-07-29T19:35:18Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] I’ll go one further: I wouldn’t be surprised if they planned it and paid the kid to take it. [/QUOTE] That wouldn’t surprise me at all. Whatever the case, they aren’t saying they got from Obama, nor are they saying they got his permission. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/63 "2008-07-29T19:37:05Z")
I suspect that the kid dug it out on a lark because he thought it would be cool, and then sold it to the paper - who published it because it would be big news. I further suspect any claims to having any sort of authorization or permission to do this are 100% bull, and invented by the paper when they realized what a shitstorm they have stirred up. Which will probably be forgotten quickly as there is nothing particularly controversial in the prayer - an “I pray daily that no-one discovers my three illigitimate children and the fact I sold Senate secrets to the Chinese to support 'em” on the other hand … 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/64 "2008-07-29T19:44:31Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] I’ll go one further: I wouldn’t be surprised if they planned it and paid the kid to take it. [/QUOTE] Oy vey! ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/65 "2008-07-29T19:49:26Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] And the privacy comment apparently refers to Israeli law, which they are being accused of violating. Denials of legal responsibility have to be read very closely. [/QUOTE] How would Israeli law apply in this instance? Do non-Jews actually have no right to privacy, as the comment appears to assert? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/66 "2008-07-29T19:59:12Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] How would Israeli law apply in this instance? Do non-Jews actually have no right to privacy, as the comment appears to assert? [/QUOTE] My impression is that it’s a question of Jewish religious law (and longstanding tradition), not state law. I don’t know if non-Jews really are exempt to the traditional expectation of privacy, but even if they are, it sounds to me like _Ma’ariv_ is trying to get itself off on a technicality. They may be technically right about religious law (I don’t know), but it sounds like this is not something which is actually followed in practice, and we have no less an authority than the rabbi of the Wall himself saying it was improper. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/67 "2008-07-29T20:03:12Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] How would Israeli law apply in this instance? Do non-Jews actually have no right to privacy, as the comment appears to assert? [/QUOTE] The TNR blog refers to “Basic Law,” which apparently is the equivalent of the Israeli constitution, since it doesn’t have one. Maariv is not a government newspaper, but I think they mean Obama’s right to privacy was violated: > [@](#): > > Section 7 Privacy > (a) All persons have the right to privacy and to intimacy. > (b) There shall be no entry into the private premises of a person who has not consented thereto. > (c) No search shall be conducted on the private premises or body of a person, nor in the body or belongings of a person. > **(d) There shall be no violation of the secrecy of the spoken utterances, writings or records of a person.** ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/68 "2008-07-29T20:04:01Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Obama would have to be a whole lot crasser/stupider than I think he is to leak a prayer to an Israeli newspaper before slipping it into the Wailing Wall. That would reek. I just don’t see it. [/QUOTE] And he’d have to be a colossal idiot to say “I deliberately wrote a vague and inoffensive prayer because I suspected it might be taken by someone whose curiosity exceeded his moral judgement.” It’d quickly be spun into “Obama suspects Jews of being untrustworthy bastards who would commit sacrelige if there’s profit in it.” And he couldn’t say, “We confirm that is the prayer, because we kept a duplicate just in case.” People would wonder why he kept a copy, if not for publication. I mean, what kind of answer can he possibly give, other than a vaguely sad, “We’re sorry it came to this”? Plus, whether or not he gets elected, how should he handle it if he ever goes _back_ to the Western Wall again? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/69 "2008-07-29T20:09:45Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] …The TNR blog refers to “Basic Law,” which apparently is the equivalent of the Israeli constitution, since it doesn’t have one. Maariv is not a government newspaper, but I think they mean Obama’s right to privacy was violated… [/QUOTE] Does the Basic Law permit the stoning to death of editors and seminary students? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/70 "2008-07-29T20:11:00Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Does the Basic Law permit the stoning to death of editors and seminary students? [/QUOTE] Only if they say Jehovah. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/71 "2008-07-29T20:17:29Z")
[QUOTE=Fish] Plus, whether or not he gets elected, how should he handle it if he ever goes _back_ to the Western Wall again? [/QUOTE] Next time, he should write the prayer in code. G-d doesn’t just read in English, does he? He could probably crack any code there is. Or he could just leave it filled with difficult-to-decipher references to things that only he and G-d would understand: _Lord, I thank you for answering my prayer about that thing, and that other thing? I could reeeaaalllly use a go-ahead on that one. The blue one would be favorite, but Michelle also likes green, so that would be okay. Please watch over the people I asked you about last time, and keep them the same way I asked you then. Over and out._ ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/72 "2008-07-29T20:17:47Z")
This is probably the least debatable debate. People have been putting prayers in the wall for eons with the general idea that nobody is going to read them. Obama of course should be afforded that right. On the other hand, he’s such a pro, I’m sure he knew not to write anything damaging on it. Like: “PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, Let me win, God?!” ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/73 "2008-07-29T21:11:45Z")
[QUOTE=Merkwurdigliebe] This is probably the least debatable debate. People have been putting prayers in the wall for eons with the general idea that nobody is going to read them. Obama of course should be afforded that right. On the other hand, he’s such a pro, I’m sure he knew not to write anything damaging on it. Like: “PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, Let me win, God?!” [/QUOTE] Or “Please deliver the glorious workers from the white man’s meat grinder.” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/74 "2008-07-29T21:23:37Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] Or “Please deliver the glorious workers from the white man’s meat grinder.” [/QUOTE] Or “_La ilaha illa Allah wa-Muhammad rasul Allah…_” ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/75 "2008-07-29T22:37:46Z")
Cthulhu ftagn! ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/76 "2008-07-29T23:46:11Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Cthulhu ftagn! [/QUOTE] That would have been the coolest thing EVER. I would so vote for him after that. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/77 "2008-07-30T04:17:06Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Only if they say Jehovah. [/QUOTE] :: eagerly throws a stone at **Marley23** :: ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821/78 "2008-07-30T04:19:49Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Does the Basic Law permit the stoning to death of editors and seminary students? [/QUOTE] Stoned to death? Look, I know people who’ve tried, and it just can’t be done… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-western-wall-prayer-published-by-israeli-newspaper-invasion-of-privacy/457821.md?page=3)