Official complaint regarding misleading travel advertising in the United Kingdom

Attention: British Advertising Standards Authority

Sir,

I would like to lodge an official complaint regarding misleading travel advertising in the United Kingdom.

On the official website for Britain's national tourism agency, "VisitBritain" (http://www.visitbritain.org), there is a listing under the title of "Visit Britain" for the "Northern Ireland Travel Guide."

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

I find it somewhat misleading to imply that Northern Ireland is part of Britain, when the status of the occupied territory of Northern Ireland is the subject of much international dispute.

Might I suggest that the travel website "VisitBritain" should be renamed, "VisitBritishIsles"? Or perhaps it should be made explicitly clear that while England claims that Northern Ireland is part of"Britain", the self-determination of Northern Ireland disputes that claim.

I find the "VisitBritain" website mildly offensive, especially in light of your complaint lodged against Israel's inclusion of their capital city, Jerusalem, in a travel advert.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-tourism-advert-featured-picture-of-occupied-territories-1944066.html

I therefore request that you kindly find the VisitBritain website in breach of truthfulness guidelines, consistent with that earlier ruling.

Sincerely,

Jameel Rashid

CC: British Foreign Office,
MK Danny Ayalon, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs,
The Independent,
Yediot Achronot,
Jerusalem Post


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Jameel @ The Muqata
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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.

Visiting Israel?
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