Shock Schlock - Unholy Madonnas in Suicide Vests shut down in Tel Aviv by censors

Sophisticated gallery goers in Tel Aviv were offended by the latest shock schlock exhibit, showing sweet-faced Christian saints who, on second glance, must be strapped for oblivion under their garb, in spite of their halos. Still feels a tad raw after the bloody excesses of Intifada. The Independent's Lynfield reports about the latest on the cultural scene in the Big Falafel, the explosive mix of art and politics, after that other Madonna, aka Esther, just flounced through the Holy Land her red kabbala string (bikini). The story was first broken by Ynet news.

Galina Bleich, one of the artists, said the works were meant to show the horror of women carrying out suicide bombings. "A child in the hands of Madonna is in danger, that's what should concern people. This is not only an Israeli problem, but a worldwide problem, and that is why we chose Madonna, a Christian symbol," she told Israel's Y-net news service.

Bleich said she had the idea for the exhibit after finding herself at the scene of a suicide bombing in Jerusalem. "From then I haven't stopped thinking about it... We are trying to ask how a woman who is intended to love and give birth turned into a source of hatred and murder."