Britain Bans Ad Saying Jerusalem’s Old City is Part of Israel
March 4, 2015Britain’s advertising watchdog has banned an Israeli government tourism advert for suggesting that the Old City of Jerusalem was part of Israel, AFP reported.
The newspaper brochure showed a panorama of the walled Old City with the text “Israel has it all”, and was ruled misleading by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which said it implied the UNESCO World Heritage Site was part of Israel.
The international community regards the Old City as “occupied Palestinian territory” and has never recognized Israel’s annexation of parts of Jerusalem it liberated during the Six Day War.
Following a complaint, the ASA ruled the title of the brochure “Israel Land of Creation” and references to Old City attractions was misleading and banned the advert from appearing again in its current form, according to AFP.
“We understood that the status of the territories in question was the subject of much international dispute,” the watchdog said.
“We therefore considered the presentation of the ad would mislead consumers into believing that the Old City of Jerusalem was part of Israel and into taking a transactional decision that they would otherwise not have taken.”
The brochure included a photograph showing the golden Old City landmark and Muslim shrine the Dome of the Rock, with the modern buildings of Western Jerusalem in the background.
Text on the image read: “Everyone falls for the Old City, with its narrow (and car-free) alleys, teeming pilgrims and bazaar-like buzz.”
In response, the Israeli Government Tourist Office said that the brochure did not imply that eastern Jerusalem and its Old City were part of the state of Israel.
“They said the ad did not seek to make a political statement and believed it would be inappropriate for it to do so,” the ASA ruling stated.
“Rather, they believed the leaflet provided practical information that made clear that visitors to the places referred to in the ad, such as the Old City of Jerusalem, could only be visited via travelling to Israel,” it added.
Britain’s broadcast authority, the BBC, has come under fire several times in recent years after it denied that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital.
In 2012, the BBC listed “East Jerusalem” as the capital for the “Palestinian Olympic team” while leaving Israel listed without a capital.
The official London Olympics website did something similar that year. On that site, too, Israel started out having no capital city but eventually, Israel’s capital was listed as Jerusalem and it was “Palestine” that was featured without a capital city.
Similar posts
-
Israel Has The Most Moral Military In The World
April 10, 2024In the heart of a region often riddled with conflict, Israel stands out not only for its technologi...
-
The Resilience of the Israeli People
April 2, 2024Visitors from around the world have seen Hamas's October 7th Massacre's destruction in southern Isr...
-
Israel: Small Size, Big Impact
March 21, 2024Nestled along the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, Israel is a land of immense historical sig...
-
Israelis Are Fighting For Their Lives
February 21, 2024By Jonathan S. Tobin The world looks a lot different from Kibbutz Kfar Aza than it does in the U...
-
Over 2 Million Arabs Live In Israel
January 23, 2024In the complex landscape of the Middle East, where diverse cultures and identities intersect, Israe...
-
'Fauda' Star Idan Amedi Injured Fighting in Gaza
January 8, 2024Despite the severity of his injuries, Amedi's father assured Israeli news channels that his life is...
-
Israel Is A Great Country To Live In
December 28, 2023Nestled at the crossroads of the Middle East, Israel stands as a vibrant and dynamic nation, offeri...
-
Women's Empowerment in Israel
December 15, 2023In recent decades, Israel has witnessed a remarkable evolution in the status and empowerment of wom...