UK watchdog: PA Mission website presents misleading map

[King_David]

Tourist ad on site describes Jaffa and Haifa as part of "occupied Palestine," and Jerusalem as "in dispute."



LONDON – The Palestinian Authority Mission to the UK breached British advertising regulations in featuring on its website an interactive map of the whole of Israel under the heading “Discover Palestine.”

The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled on Wednesday that the Palestinian delegation’s map – in the red, green and black colors of the Palestinian flag – breached its code on misleading advertising in six instances.

“We considered that the average consumer would infer from the map and the linked information that the total area represented by the map was the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Because this was not the case, we concluded that the website was misleading,” the ASA said in its ruling.

The website described Jaffa as “a Palestinian Arab city... military occupied by Israel since 1948,” and Haifa as part of Palestine.

“We noted that, according to the UK Foreign Office, Jaffa and Haifa were in Israel. We considered that the website implied that the cities were in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Because we understood that they were not, we concluded that the website was misleading,” the regulator ruled.


The ASA also ruled against the Palestinian delegation’s decision not to make a reference to east or west Jerusalem.

“We noted that the status of Jerusalem was in dispute. We noted that this section of the website made no reference to east or west Jerusalem or the fact that the status of the city was the subject of much international dispute. We considered that the website implied that the entire city was part of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Because we understood that that was not the case, we concluded that the website was misleading,” it said.

http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=248440

[King_David]

1. West Bank And Gaza are just for starters nt

[vminfla]

2. classic whitewashing

We have seen this repeatedly. Egypt has even built a museum dedicated to their great victory of the 6 day war. It's not the facts that matter, its the myth.

[azurnoir]

3. Perhaps there's some sour grapes on Israel's part due to ASA ruling against this campaign

“Systems breakdown” at the Guardian
On Monday the Guardian issued a correction stating the ad “did not distinguish clearly between Israel” and the occupied Arab territories.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign is encouraging people to complain to the ASA and theGuardian. The Guardian has written to a PSC supporter apologizing, saying they usually “carefully check any potentially controversial adverts prior to publication, however in this instance we had a systems breakdown and did not do so”. The Guardian also said theASA is currently investigating the ad.

Update, 5 December
Antoine Raffoul, Coordinator of 1948 Lest We Forget informs me that his group was called by Mark Finney, the Guardian’s advertising manager after they complained. Finney says that follow-up adverts from the Israeli tourism ministry have now been refused — seemingly because of the complaints. Here is Antoine’s full update:

“We received a call today from Mr Mark Finney in response to our latest email… He apologised for the insertion of the misleading advert and stated that a ‘correction/clarification’ was published online subsequent to the hundreds of protests received by the Guardian. He also stated that Israel’s Ministry of Tourism attempted (through its advertising agency) to insert the same advert (text only) this weekend <3-4 December>, and (same map and text) next weekend, but The Guardian refused.”

I called Mr Finney at the Guardian earlier today seeking his response to my article, but he did not return the message I left before the end of the day.

Major Campaign
The ad is part of what seems to be a major recent campaign in the UK. Large billboards have appeared in public spaces encouraging people to “Think Israel”.


http://jfjfp.com/?p=27137

[shaayecanaan]

4. A good letter from Alexei Sayle in there...

"In last Saturday’s Guardian there was an advert for travel to Israel featuring a map where Israel appears to have absorbed the entire occupied Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights. The Israeli Board of Tourism has been censured three times for breaches of advertising standards, but seems unable to correct its behaviour. Perhaps you should now just refuse to offer any advertising space to the Israeli government, which repeatedly claims that land illegally acquired by conquest is theirs."

I remember watching Alexei Sayle's Stuff back in the day, it was as good as TV got back then. Couple of good bits on Youtube:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGcJX3MHvm0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXxzVuE_D1k&feature=related