It gets even more absurd

Thanks to Roberta Toporoff for alerting me to the decision of the British Advertising Standard Agency that ruled that ads for tourism to Israel that showed a picture of the Western Wall with the Dome of the Rock mosque above it could no longer be shown in Britain as they are considered misleading. According to the Advertising Standard Agency, the Wall and the mosque are in the portion of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan before 1967 and therefore they are not part of Israel. This makes a reader of the ad believe that they can see these sights in Israel when they are really not in that country. A copy of the article in the Jerusalem Post about this decision is linked to the title of this post.

This decision by the British gives rise to a simple question: Have they lost their minds? The Western Wall is the only remnant of the Temple in Jerusalem. It is the single most important religious site for Jews over the world. It has been under Israeli control since 1967 and was formally made part of Israel at that time. If one wants to visit the Wall or the mosques that are on the top of the Temple Mount (Al Aksa and the Dome of the Rock) one has to go to Israel. So the picture is of important sites in Israel which cannot be accessed from any other country. Still, the Advertising Standard Agency has decided that it needs to involve itself in foreign affairs. What a joke!

I do have a suggestion for the Agency, however. They should also ban any ad that shows the Falkland Islands since these are claimed by Argentina as part of that country. The Agency might also consider banning any ad that shows the Elgin Marbles or even the British Museum where they are located since these were looted by the British from Greece which would like these statues back. Just because the Elgin marbles have been in London for a century and a half is no reason for the British to mislead the world into thinking that these items can be seen in Britain when they are really Greek.

Of course, this may all seem like nonsense -- because it is nonsense. The Advertising Standard Agency should be ashamed of itself for such foolish behavior.