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Israel calls upon Britain not to interfere in the marketing of Jerusalem

February 27, 2014 at 10:52 am

The Israeli government has called upon its British counterpart to stop “interfering” in the way it markets the city of Jerusalem. The complaint came after the British advertising watchdog banned an Israeli tourism campaign advertisement that uses pictures of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosques as if they are in Israel. Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority said that the advertising leaflet featured part of the occupied West Bank and its use by Israel violates the law concerning the accuracy of such publications. Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported that the ban has been imposed because “readers of the ad were likely to assume that all the places featured in the ad were within the state of Israel.”


The Israeli Minister of Tourism, Stas Msjenkov, said, “Britain should not interfere in Israel’s affairs and how this ministry markets Jerusalem as an international venue for pilgrimage tourism.”

A similar ban was imposed last year on an Israeli tourism advert that included a map showing the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights, and Gaza as part of Israel. Similarly, a Russian travel agency has been promoting trips to “Israel [for] a spiritual break” using a huge poster showing the Dome of the Rock Mosque, which is in occupied East Jerusalem. According to international law, Israel is occupying the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights illegally.