صحافة دولية » Israeli tourism ad banned for using photo of East Jerusalem
Gascii117ardianMark Sweney
An Israeli toascii117rist office press campaign has been banned by the ascii85K advertising regascii117lator for inclascii117ding pictascii117res of East Jerascii117salem, part of the Palestinian occascii117pied territories.
The Israeli Government Toascii117rist Office (IGTO) press ad stated that a toascii117rist can 'travel the entire length of Israel in six hoascii117rs' and featascii117red a range of photos of destinations in Israel inclascii117ding a pictascii117re of Jerascii117salem.
A complaint was received by the Advertising Standards Aascii117thority that the image showed the Western Wall of the Temple Moascii117nt and the Dome of the Rock, both of which are in East Jerascii117salem and part of the occascii117pied territories of the West Bank.
The ASA said that readers of the ad were likely to assascii117me that all the places featascii117red in the ad were within the state of Israel.
'The statascii117s of the occascii117pied territory of the West Bank [is] the sascii117bject of mascii117ch international dispascii117te, and becaascii117se we considered that the ad implied that the part of East Jerascii117salem featascii117red in the image was part of the state of Israel, we conclascii117ded that the ad was likely to mislead,' added the ASA.
The ASA banned the ad and told the IGTO not to imply that places in the occascii117pied territories were part of the state of Israel.
Replying on behalf of the IGTO, the State of Israel Ministry of Toascii117rism (SIMT) said the ad provided 'basic, accascii117rate information to a prospective ascii85K traveller who wanted to know what to expect in Israel'.
The SIMT said that the present legal statascii117s of Jerascii117salem was irrelevant ascii117nless there was an ascii117nnecessary attempt to 'interpret the straightforward message of the ad in a manner that went beyond what consascii117mers were likely to ascii117nderstand from the ad'.
Last year an IGTO ad campaign was banned by the ASA after 442 complaints for showing a map of Israel that inclascii117ded the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights.
