UK agency bans ad promoting northern Israel

LONDON - The Associated Press

Israeli border police run towards Palestinian demonstrators during demonstration against the expansion of the nearby Jewish settlement of Halamish in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh near Ramallah, Friday, March 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Britain's Advertising Standards Authority has ordered the Israeli Government Tourist Office not to repeat an advertisement for a book promoting northern Israel.

In the ad published in November, a map showed a dotted line around the Golan Heights, labeled "Golan." Parts of the West Bank were labeled "Samaria" and "Judea." The ad also claimed that skeletons found in the Galilee proved that human speech developed there.

The agency said it received 350 complaints, including from supporters of Palestinians.

On Wednesday, the agency ruled that the ad must not reappear in that form, should not imply that the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights were internationally recognized as part of the state of Israel, and not imply universal acceptance of contentious claims.