Israel's tourism ad map draws criticism for not showing separate West Bank and Gaza borders
A paid Israeli tourism feature on a US news website shows the whole area from the Mediterranean to the Jordan river as one unit, drawing criticism.
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Israel is facing international criticism over the war in Gaza. Meanwhile, it has launched a large tourism promotion campaign to attract visitors from North America. Israel's Tourism Ministry plans to spend about $6.5 million on the campaign.
The campaign is meant to revive the tourism sector, which was hit by the war. But one part of it has stirred a fresh controversy. Paid tourism content was published on the website of the Los Angeles Times in the United States, and the map shown in it is being criticised. The criticism is that the map does not show separate borders for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The content appeared on the website under the title "Israel: Land of Creation". It is labelled "Paid Program" and was produced as part of the Israeli Tourism Ministry's campaign.
The content has an interactive map. On it, the whole area from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan river appears as a single entity. No separate border is visible for the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. This has raised questions about how the Palestinian territory is being presented.
On the campaign itself, the Tourism Ministry has set aside about $6.5 million for a digital tourism drive aimed at North American visitors. It specifically targets communities that support Israel, namely evangelical Christians and the Jewish community.
The war has had a major impact on tourism. Air services and international travel are now improving, and in this climate an effort is being made to draw visitors back to Israel.
The tourism advertisement gives top billing to Israel's religious sites, beaches, deserts and historic places. But there are allegations that the map in the advertisement avoids mentioning the political status of the Palestinian territory.
The campaign has been criticised in particular over the way the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights were shown. As a result, the efforts to promote tourism in the midst of war have revived the question of how appropriate it is to present a territory in this way through maps and advertisements.
