The Israeli Tourist Board is keen to get more Britons to visit the SLASOUPT (Shitty Little Apartheid State on Usurped Palestinian Territory).
It’s latest advertisement carries the rather modest slogan: “Few countries pack so much variety into such a small space as Israel!”
Fancy bird-watching in the Golan Heights? How about a fishing holiday in Gaza? Don't miss the all-inclusive tours of checkpoints and Palestinian refugee camps!
Users of the London Underground have been treated to these delightful ads in the form of large wall posters (presumably secure beneath the watchful eyes of CCTV cameras, strategically located to discourage paint-bomb attacks?)
But the advertisements may may not be up for long. Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority received a torrent of complaints and has upheld the principal concern: the ad includes a map which, to put it bluntly, wipes Palestine completely off the map!
The boundaries of Gaza and the West Bank are marked, but with lines so delicate they’re almost invisible.The ad is therefore in breach of the Committee of Advertising Practice Code 7.1 , which comes under the quaintly old-fashioned heading of ‘Truthfulness”: “No marketing communication should mislead, or be likely to mislead, by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or otherwise.”
According to the BBC report Advert Implied Gaza in Israel:
Advertising Standards Authority: promotes honour among thieves
The ASA said: “We understood that the borders and status of the occupied territories of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Golan Heights were the subject of much international dispute, and because we considered that the ad implied that those territories were part of the State of Israel, we concluded that the ad was misleading.”
They said the advert must not appear again in the same form.
The watchdog upheld complaints from the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, Jews for Justice for Palestine and 442 members of the public.
In May, Israel’s tourist ministry admitted it had made a “professional mistake” over the adverts and said no more maps would be used on its posters.
Contrary to the Israeli claims, I’d say this is a very unprofessional mistake. It suggests lack of local awareness on the Israelis’ part.
I could have told them false and misleading ads are risky in Britain. Very properly, the ASA requires formal annexation before an advertiser may brag over war spoils. Britain has some experience of imperialism and the ‘game’ has rules…
"It isn't their Land"
In case the Israeli Tourist Ministry considers targeting the USA for its next promotional stint, I have culturally-specific advice.
Americans are suckers for jingles!
Here’s a catchy, bite-sized, educational verse, with apologies to Woody Guthrie. It would fit in perfectly on Evangelical Radio Stations – and look good next to a Obamicon-me poster of the Israeli Prime Minister:
That land is Our Land, It isn’t Their Land,
From inside Dimona, to Nes Ziona
From the ruins of Gaza, we can bomb wherever…
G_d gave it ALL to Jews!
