Complaint and Response to ASA re Kotel imagery in tourism ads

20/04/2010

Dear Mr. Todd

I was very disturbed to read the adjudication (14 April) of the Advertising Standards Authority about an advert for tourism in Israel.

Under Israeli stewardship the religious shrines of Jerusalem are protected and accessible to all for the first time since the days of Jesus. By saying that photos of the Western Wall and Dome of the Rock cannot be shown in Israel tourism advertising, the ASA is therefore preventing them being shown in any tourism advertising. That cannot be to the benefit of tourists.

I understand that this ASA adjudication can be reviewed by the Independent Reviewer (Sir Hayden Phillips) at the request of the advertiser and that he can call for a review if there is “a substantial flaw of process or adjudication …. or where additional relevant evidence becomes available.” We hope that there is such a review and that this results in the ASA Council changing its ruling.

Sincerely


(rabbi) rashi simon

819 Finchley Road
London
NW11 8AJ


We are currently experiencing a high volume of enquiries which may affect our response time. We apologise for any inconvenience that this might cause.

ASA Adjudication on Israeli Government Tourist Office
The ASA has received lots of feedback about its decision to uphold a complaint against the Israeli Government Tourist Office. Please note that we cannot respond to everyone who writes to us about this ruling. We have outlined the reasons for our decision in our adjudication and we have the following further statement:

We do appreciate that some people strongly disagree with our decision.

Our ruling does not prevent the Israeli Government Tourist Office from depicting the Western Wall or other parts of Jerusalem in future advertisements. The ruling solely seeks to ensure that future ads do not imply that places in the Occupied Territories are part of the State of Israel.

The ASA is duty bound to respond to concerns raised about advertisements that appear in the UK. Often we have to make decisions about subject matters in advertisements that polarise opinion and where strength of feeling and views are particularly pronounced. We realise our decision will disappoint some people.

If the advertiser disagrees with our ruling then they can seek an independent review. Although it will disappoint you I am afraid we will not, however, be reconsidering our ruling.

Finally we are unable to enter into discussions about hypothetical advertisements for other tourist destinations, i.e. the UK. If you have seen an advertisement that you believe is problematic then please fill out our online complaints form.



Advertising Standards Authority
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Tel 020 7492 2222 enquiries@asa.org.uk