[Boycott - Tourism]

'Israel Map' Withdrawn from London Tube

IslamOnline.net & News Agencies
23 May 2009

LONDON — Floods of complaints have forced the Israeli government to withdraw tourism posters from London Underground for featuring a map that treating the occupied Arab lands as part of Israel.

The posters were "selling a lie" by suggesting tourists could visit Gaza while the strip is subject to a strict Israeli blockade under which even some doctors and humanitarian workers have been denied entry, he said.

The Israeli tourism ministry has posted posters in London Underground stations featuring a map that shows the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Syrian Golan Heights within the borders of Israel.

The posters have triggered hundreds of complaints to the British Advertising Standards Authority, which polices the rules of the advertising codes.

The posters also triggered protests from the Syrian embassy in London, describing the ads as "offensive".

"The move follows days of lobbying to get rid of the advertisement," Syrian Embassy spokesman Jihad Makdissi said.

Although Israel pulled out from Gaza in 2005, it maintains a tight blockade on the strip, home to 1.6 million Palestinians.

Israel is also occupying the West Bank and is continuing its settlement activities in the occupied territory.

Israel is also occupying the Syrian Golan Heights since the 1967 Middle East war, insisting that it would never give up the strategic plateau.

Mistake

Israel confirmed that the posters were being taken down for a "professional mistake".

"No more map adverts would be posted", Oren Drori, Head of Marketing Administration for the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, said.

"The existing ones would be removed as they reached the end of their scheduled display times over the next two weeks."

Drori described the adverts as a "professional mistake" with no geopolitical intentions.

"We are not tearing anything down," he said.

He said he did not think maps should be used on billboards to advertise tourism in any country and the adverts had not been sufficiently vetted.

But the ministry had decided to "fast-forward" to the next set of posters scheduled in the campaign, after learning that there was "a bit of a harsh response" to the map advert, he said.

The Israeli Tourism Ministry denied mixing politics with tourism.

"We don't mix politics and tourism," spokeswoman Shira Kazeh said.

"So the decision was made to pull the poster earlier than planned."

Source: http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1242759111187&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout

Israel admits Tube advert map 'mistake'

BBC
22 May 2009

Israel's tourist ministry has admitted to a "mistake" over adverts on the London Underground after complaints that they "wipe Palestine off the map".

The ministry said that in general, maps should not be used on billboards.

But it denied a Transport for London statement that it had asked for the offending posters to be removed.

Transport for London said it has received about 600 complaints about the poster, while the Advertising Standards Authority said it had had 300.

Hugh Lanning of the London-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign said the adverts were a "disingenuous attempt to remove the Palestinians from the public mind, and create a false impression about what constitutes Israel".

The posters were "selling a lie" by suggesting tourists could visit Gaza when the Hamas-run strip is subject to a strict Israeli blockade under which even some doctors and humanitarian workers have been denied entry, PSC said.

The map shows Israel, the West Bank, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights in the same striking yellow colour; the faintest of white lines mark out the Palestinian territories - though not the Syrian one which Israel annexed in 1981.

Insufficient vetting

Israel occupied the three Arab territories, including East Jerusalem, during the 1967 war. It has since cemented its hold by settling hundreds of thousands of its citizens there.

Oren Drori, Head of Marketing Administration for the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, described the adverts as a "professional mistake" with no geopolitical intentions.

He said he did not think maps should be used on billboards to advertise tourism in any country and the adverts had not been sufficiently vetted.

"We are not tearing anything down," he said. But the ministry had decided to "fast-forward" to the next set of posters scheduled in the campaign, after learning that there was "a bit of a harsh response" to the map advert, he said.

No more map adverts would be posted, he said, and existing ones would be removed as they reached the end of their scheduled display times over the next two weeks, he said.

The Syrian Embassy in London, which had lodged its own protest, described the advert as "offensive".

US President Barack Obama is trying to kick-start talks to reach an negotiated agreement creating a state of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza, although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not signed up to the idea.

The fate of the Golan Heights is key to any peace negotiations between Israel and Syria.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8063435.stm

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