ASA Rules Against Palestinian UK Embassy Website

A rare piece of good news from the UK. The same Advertising Standards Authority that banned the Western Wall from Israeli tourism adverts has ruled against the website of the Palestinian Diplomatic Mission to the UK.

Among the complaints upheld:

• An interactive map under the heading “Discover Palestine” in the colors of the Palestinian flag (red, green and black) misleadingly implied that the entire area represented by the map was “Palestine” and that the state of Israel did not exist.
• The website also misleadingly implied that the Israeli cities of Haifa, Jaffa and Jerusalem were in “Palestine”.
• Descriptions of Hebron and Bethlehem as tourist destinations were also judged to be misleading in light of Israeli security restrictions in those areas.

While the ASA has not declared that Jerusalem is part of Israel, instead referring to its status as “in dispute”, this adjudication has forced the offending website to remove the ad and represents a small victory in the fight against the Palestinian delegitimization campaign.