Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Britain: Kotel not in Israel

From the British newspaper, "The Independent"...it's misleading to include a picture of the Kotel on a travel advertisement for Israel. (See actual offending ad on right).

The Israeli tourist office has been criticised by the [British] Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for including images of the Palestinian-run West Bank in an advert for a holiday in Israel.

The advert for the Israeli government's Tourist Office stated that you could "travel the entire length of Israel in six hours".

Images shown included the Wailing Wall and the Dome of the Rock – the oldest Islamic building in the world, built in the seventh century. The area in East Jerusalem is at the centre of a dispute between Palestinians and Jews, with more than 500,000 Jews living in the disputed territories.

A reader complained that the printed advert featured a photograph of East Jerusalem and said it misleadingly implied that it was part of the state of Israel. The ASA said that the advert featured various landmarks that were in East Jerusalem which were part of the Occupied Territories.

It ruled that the advert breached truthfulness guidelines and ordered that it not be used again, adding: "We told the Israeli Tourist Office not to imply that places in the Occupied Territories were part of the state of Israel."

It said: "The ASA noted the itinerary image of Jerusalem used in the ad featured the Western Wall of the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock, which were both in East Jerusalem, a part of the Occupied Territories of the West Bank.

"We noted the ad stated 'You can travel the entire length of Israel in six hours – imagine what you can experience in four days', and 'Visit now for more itineraries in Israel', and considered that readers were likely to understand that the places featured in the itinerary were all within the state of Israel.

"We understood, however, that the status of the occupied territory of the West Bank was the subject of much international dispute, and, because we considered that the ad implied that the part of East Jerusalem featured in the image was part of the state of Israel, we concluded that the ad was likely to mislead." Read the rest of their drivel, here.

Not wanting to feel left out, the AFP attacks Israel for the unhelpful planned construction of a synagogue in a settlement...actually the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem.

I'm sure Gush-Shalom is drooling over all these attacks on Israel. Its probably one of their activists that complained to the British ASA in the first place.

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8 comments:

realRightWinger said...

As a british expat - let me say this - "who gives a flying f*rt what the british say" - They are still fuming over their passport use in Dubhai - and are continuously looking to get back at Israel. From my point of view - let the british stay at home in the UK - with their awful weather, and nitpicking - and let us carry on having a good time in the sun. The british pound is way down from what it used to be - so we don't need their money anyway.
Good riddance to the pasty faced british holiday maker - go and try and get drunk in Dubai instead !!

Nachum said...

Well, well, well. What have we here? A page from the website of the official British Tourism Agency:

http://www.visitbritain.us/destinations/Northern-Ireland/

Complaints to the Advertising Standards Agency may be submitted here:

http://www.asa.org.uk/Complaints-and-ASA-action/How-to-complain/Online-Form.aspx

Jameel @ The Muqata said...

Nachum: ROFL! I'm writing my complaint now!

Thanks.

Neshama said...

This is really getting ridiculous!

Why not complain that Big Ben is not in London, but on a swath of land owned by some ancient tartars! Or better yet, the Cath.... Ch....

Who gave them the authority to dictate to Israel; they were kicked out a long time ago. It's time to tell the world that G-d Al-mighty gave us this land and He's the only authority we acknowledge!

Anonymous said...

and 11 Downing St. is in Italy

Nachum said...

Jameel: I sent in a complaint as well.

The back of the hill said...

All those European liberal democracies have been holier than thou since they lost their empires.

Nations whose museums are filled with the despoilation of the entire third world should, perhaps, not throw stones.

rhecht said...

Oh dear Gd... some people have nothing better to do with their lives than raise hell over part of a picture?!? I guess this is what happens when common sense goes out the window.

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