As we posted here and here, the Guardian’s Travel page – which includes 110 nations on their list of travel destinations – omitted the word “Israel” from their list of countries, while included such hot-spots as Rwanda, Uzbekistan, Oman, Namibia, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt, Cambodia, Cuba and Angola.
In fact, their site referred to a specific tour destination (arranged through their partner travel agency, Riviera Travel) which landed in Tel Aviv, and included an itinerary which consisted almost entirely of Israeli destinations, as “Middle East”.
As we noted, in over 1100 words of text detailing the itinerary – which included stops to places such as Jerusalem, Masada, The Dead Sea, The Galilee, and Yad Vashem - the word “Israel” wasn’t mentioned once, and the tour itself was named “Jerusalem, Galilee & the Dead Sea”.
A proactive CiF Watch reader who contacted the Guardian’s Travel desk to complain received a reply which included the following explanation:
- The decision to promote this particular tour was a thoroughly thought through process involving us, Riviera Travel and the Guardian Travel editorial team.
- We are of course aware of the political issues in this region and the decision was taken to promote this tour in the ‘Middle East’ region as it is a neutral term for the destinations visited.
- We know that the politics of this region are fragile but aim to offer our readers the choice to visit this culturally important part of the world.
- It is an educational tour of the holy land involving tours around all…religious quarters, not just Israeli.
Our last post included the email of the Guardian’s Travel team, and we subsequently received word that more than a few of our loyal fans indeed contacted them to complain.
Well, the activism we encouraged evidently had a positive, if not perfect, result.
If you go to the Guardian’s Travel page now, you see the name of the previously unmentionable nation.
While, yes, it’s still strange that they feel the need to add “Palestine” to an Israeli destination (which, as we noted, includes only one stop into the Palestinian territories on a trip which covers 13 destination in 7 days), this is, after all, the Guardian, so we’ll view this as at least a partial victory.
However, if you want to engage in a bit of mischief (be “naughty” as my S. African wife always says to describe behavior which shows a bit of chutzpah) you can contact the Guardian travel team (holidayoffers@guardian.co.uk) and suggest, in the spirit of sensitivity to national aspirations, they revise the following destinations, thusly: Spain to “Spain/Basque”, Iraq to “Iraq/Kurdistan”, Syria to “Syria/Kurdistan”, Mexico to “Mexico/Chiapas”, Belgium to “Belgium/Flanders”, and Canada to “Canada/Quebec”.
Interestingly, the only non-recognized state listed on the Guardian page (other than the continent of Antarctica) is, in fact, “Palestine”.
I simply can’t imagine why that would be.
Related articles
- Follow-up post about Guardian Travel site’s curious omission of the nation known as “Israel” (cifwatch.com)
- Guardian “Holiday Offers” page strangely omits name of one tiny little country (cifwatch.com)
- The Guardian: Geographically Clueless (cifwatch.com)
- A small victory against Palestinians’ continuing “mission” to wipe Israel off the map (cifwatch.com)
- Sarah Irving’s “Palestine” tourism story in the Guardian omits one tiny border country (cifwatch.com)
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30 comments
Comments feed for this article
February 11, 2012 at 1:46 pm
Natalie Irene Wood
While we all love the Levick family’s native chutzpah, the charade reminds me of what Brian (my husband) and I discovered while preparing for our pre-aliya pilot trip in 2010. We scoured the bookshops in Greater Manchester, U.K. for a tourist (indeed, any) map of ISRAEL – but discovered that absolutely none – zero – nil – zilch – nothing (I hope I’m making myself pellucidly clear, here) – was available. despite there being a profusion of them for other countries in the region. Oh, dear!
February 13, 2012 at 4:41 am
Yigal
The trip visits both Israel and Palestine, it’s therefore logical to let potential travellers know.
February 11, 2012 at 1:57 pm
conchovor
‘While, yes, it’s still strange that they feel the need to add “Palestine” to an Israeli destination’
Only if you think the Arab Muslim and Christian parts of the Old City and Bethlehem are ‘Israeli’.
(which, as we noted, includes only one stop into the Palestinian territories on a trip which covers 13 destination in 7 days)’
Two Palestinian destinations: the Palestinian Arab parts of the Old City and Bethlehem.
(rolls eyes)
February 11, 2012 at 2:02 pm
conchovor
Just because the P.A. and Hamas denies a Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, inter alia, that doesn’t mean one should perform the converse act of denial.
February 11, 2012 at 2:14 pm
ziontruth
I fully disagree with you on that. Totally, emphatically disagree.
This is a war. Gentlemanliness is no way to win a war. It is absolutely wrong-headed to relent, for example, on the issue of whether the Arabs in Palestine constitute “a nation that has lived on this land since time immemorial” when the anti-Zionists do not exhibit the slightest sign of budging from their stance that “Zionism is a 19th-century White European Colonial Settler Enterprise.”
I cut the other side the same amount of slack as they cut mine.
February 12, 2012 at 9:47 am
Yohoho
Seconded, ziontruth. No trick is too inhuman or too low to be stooped to by Israel’s enemies and neighbours and their fellow travellers. One would have thought that the penny should have dropped by now that Israel cannot engage with her enemies as if they were sitting down to tea with them at the vicarage.
February 11, 2012 at 2:27 pm
Groovy Times
The Guardian is such a puerile and vindictive pile of shit. Singling out Israel as the only ‘political entity’ that dare not speak its name shows such liberal sensitivities to everyone except the Jews themselves, who are of course beyond the pale when it comes to issues of national identity and sovereign rights. And this way of thinking was ‘thoroughly thought through’. Hate to see the kind of anti-Semitic car wreck the Guardian leaves behind when such self-important progressives try and wish away all the nasty things in the world without ‘thoroughly thinking things through’.
February 11, 2012 at 2:32 pm
conchovor
‘I cut the other side the same amount of slack as they cut mine.’
The why did Palestinian Jews accept partition in 1947?
It seems to me too many Israeli or pro-Zionist Jews here, at least, are making the same mistake Palestinian Arabs made 60 years ago. But they or their leaders have shown signs of learning from their mistakes recently.
It is or will be a tragedy if Israeli or other Jews make the same mistake in their turn. But it looks increasingly as though that is what is happening.
February 11, 2012 at 2:48 pm
ziontruth
“The why did Palestinian Jews accept partition in 1947?”
That was the first try. As the saying goes: “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”
“It seems to me too many Israeli or pro-Zionist Jews here, at least, are making the same mistake Palestinian Arabs made 60 years ago.”
Wrong. Totally wrong. Jewish compromise in the face of Arab aggression has been the norm until recently, and Israel has paid dearly for it. Even the treaty with Egypt is looking like getting to be a land-for-nothing deal. What you’re proposing with your calls for “pragmatism” is that Israel turn the other cheek and accept any provocation coming from its enemies. This is a sure way to perdition.
“But they or their leaders have shown signs of learning from their mistakes recently.”
In the opposite direction as you wish for, but I agree on that, that’s happening alright. The populace surely, and even a portion of the leaders. It’s only Israel’s mainstream media chatterati who think the debacle of the aftermath of August 2005 (the expulsion of all Jews from the Gaza region, followed by Kassam rocket fire on pre-1967 Israeli Jewish towns) doesn’t mean abandoning Judea and Samaria would end up the same.
February 11, 2012 at 3:05 pm
Thank God I'm An Infidel
ziontruth, You make excellent points at FPM too.
ziontruth AKBAR!
February 11, 2012 at 3:15 pm
ziontruth
Thank you TGIAI. Edward AKBAR!
Fact is, I’m not as reserved on FPM as here, for FPM is a bit like the Wild West while CiFWatch is a sedate and respectable blog. Not to say FPM is disreputable, but it’s more attack-oriented, whereas CiFWatch is about defending from and exposing the other side’s lies. Everything has a price, and FPM is no exception, its hectic environment attracting neo-Nazi trolls by the boatload. (Yes, there are some of those here, but never so much as on FPM.)
Forgive my rambling…
February 12, 2012 at 9:49 am
Yohoho
Again, hear hear.
February 12, 2012 at 4:35 pm
conchovor
['“But they or their leaders have shown signs of learning from their mistakes recently.”
In the opposite direction as you wish for, but I agree on that, that’s happening alright. The populace surely, and even a portion of the leaders.]
A little bit ethnocentric of you: I was talking about the Palestinians.
February 11, 2012 at 2:33 pm
Thank God I'm An Infidel
CiF Watch AKBAR!!!
February 11, 2012 at 3:48 pm
Ariadne
Surely by 1947 Jews were afraid that far from having a homeland they would have nothing.
That’s how gross I think Britain’s betrayal of its Mandate had been.
Jews went there to share, Arabs went there partly for money and largely to get rid of Jews. Britain let in more Arabs than Jews. Bevin armed Jordan against Jews. Jews not only vanquished all those Arab armies: they vanquished the 100,000 troops Britain had stationed there to keep them down.
I think the massive Arab immigration to the Mandate should be emphasised as should the perfidy of Britain, And I don’t hate Britain although it is creating a horrible society here now. Britain treated Jews in the Mandate even worse (and where’s that mostly hamas [™ ®
(©Thank God I’m an Infidel)] to mention “whataboutery”?
The activities of the 43 Group demonstrate how awful Britian was, post WWII, post-Shoah and post the shedding of Jewish blood on the Allied side.
In the Mandate Jews were being executed for non-capital crimes.
Anyone who reads the debates of the Second Knesset could not fail to see how amazed Israel was to have won so resoundingly and to have acquired so much land. But enter the UN and UNWRA and the Arab countries with their vast land grants refusing to take back their own citizens.
It’s an amazing thing to think that Israel has relinquished Sinai three times. I’d like to see it not relinquish anything more at all.
February 11, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Thank God I'm An Infidel
Ariadne AKBAR!
I add that there must have been quite a sputtering scene amongst the British elites when the Jews of Israel were not massacred in 1948 – just 3 years after the end of the Holocaust – by the invading armies of 5 arab entities, and defeated their enemies BECAUSE the Jews had the TOOLS to defend themselves and SMASH their enemies.
1948 SMASHED the view that Jews could not stand and defend themselves.
February 11, 2012 at 4:35 pm
Ariadne
Infidel, some of those fulminations might well have been in papers that Richard Crossman saw but were later destroyed.
Here’s the poor thing that is claimed to be Cabinet papers.
February 11, 2012 at 6:11 pm
Thank God I'm An Infidel
I visually scanned the first two PDFs. Looks like interesting reading.
Thanks!
February 11, 2012 at 4:37 pm
Ariadne
And – thank you!
February 11, 2012 at 5:30 pm
Saba Dennis
This is the full text of a letter from Riviera Travel date March 2011 in response to the same complaint I made that the word “Israel” was not to be seen in their offer:
“Your letter has been passed to me for a reply as I was heavily involved in this tour, its choice of title and indeed the promotion as well.
We launched this particular tour last July and it has been promoted as a Reader Offer throughout the media in such titles as the Daily Telegraph, Times, Daily Mail, the Guardian, Independent, Daily Express and a host of other titles. The reason we omitted Israel was mainly the overwhelming desire to avoid upsetting anyone.
As you will know, this tour visits the Palestinian Territories and we are unsure if people reading the promotion would relate this to Gaza and the negative effect this would have. Also the fact that if we include Israel in the copy, we should technically include the Palestine territories or this would upset some people too. Supporting our train of thought, please access the following link concerning the ruling from the ASA. http://www.asa.org.uk/Complaints-and-ASA-action/Adjudications
We would be the first to admit, we are not politicians, have no wish to be so and have no intention of becoming embroiled in the delicate politics of the region. We are just Tour Operators wishing to take people to a fascinating part of the world and show it to them to the best of our ability.
Hope this helps and best regards.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Wright
Managing Director”
Riviera Travel”
February 12, 2012 at 9:54 am
Yohoho
@saba dennis “…We would be the first to admit, we are not politicians, have no wish to be so and have no intention of becoming embroiled in the delicate politics of the region…”
But the idiots HAVE by acting as they did! What they really meant to write is that they would rather upset Israelis/Jews than Arabs/Muslims.
And surely the sentence SHOULD read “We are just Tour Operators WISHING TO MAKE MONEY… ” &c &c
February 11, 2012 at 8:56 pm
Ben
It really is like pulling teeth to get CiF to face up to the many, many errors, omissions, slanted viewpoints, and outright lies that their pet writers churn out on a daily basis.
.
Fortunately, CiF Watch and other sites have very talented dentists
February 12, 2012 at 9:12 am
AKUS
But surely “Spain/Basque” would have to be amended to “Basque/Andalusia” with tours of Jewish Seville and the ancient Palestinian palace of Alhambra, historic home of Saeeb Erekat’s ancestors before they moved to Jericho, departing from the ancient Islamic colony of Jabal Tāriq (Jabal-baralta)?
February 12, 2012 at 10:39 am
Ariadne
Lovely, AKUS. I’ll never forget Erekat’s embroideries on Jenin and the BBC’s faithful presentation of them.
The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise
February 12, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Duvid Crockett, King of DeLancey Street,/ Home of gefilte fish and kosher meat
Just returned from vacation in Israel. It was fantastic. No tour operators needed; just book yourselves a budget flight staight away from snowy London to sunny Israel. Book from a range of hotels all available and bookable online.
Everyone in Israel – and I mean everyone – from the former Ethiopian and Russian-now Israeli Jews to the Armenians, Greek Orthodox and Italian Catholics, speaks English and usually two or three other languages. They will all help tourists and probably tell you their family history to boot, if you give them time. There are regular free government tours of most of the historical, archaeological and religious sites.
Tel Aviv beach is not exactly hard to find, nor is Eilat beach from the central bus stations of Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. Even in Bethlehem you can hire an Arab Christian guide for £8 to show you the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square. For an extra £2.50 a priest of your denomination will also bless you there.
Do not book with loony leftist travel agents.
February 29, 2012 at 11:08 pm
david scott
I agree with you sir, Whenever I am ther i always plan in advance to make my travel organized and safe. I dont go with those loony travel agents that all they did is just plain Bull. I always stay at the tiberias hostel…cheap, great food and the panorama fronting the sea of Galilee is jaw dropping plus a hearty breakfast. If you are there i think i have found there site i truly recommend this to everyone http://tiberiashostel.net/
February 12, 2012 at 12:18 pm
Tang
To be truly progressive, the Guardian must also include:
Algeria / Southern France
China / Manchuria
USA / The Colonies
Vietnam / Cochin China
Zimbabwe / Rhodesia
And it should be made clear in their reports that the Scottish Entity is illegally occupying Caledonia.
February 12, 2012 at 6:40 pm
SerJew
Don´t forget UK / Malvinas (aka Falklands).
February 13, 2012 at 4:37 am
pretzelberg
I still find it bizarre that they have Antarctica on the list.
February 20, 2012 at 12:58 am
david scott
I have been allot of times in Israel. Safety and security was never been an issue to me. Diverse community awestrucked me Though I am not a spiritual fellow but i enjoyed the rich culture of the land. Hotels in the country are safe and predominately has choice at a lower price. Well-off places, people are hospitable, great food and night party are amazing Not much of a fuss when your travelling and you should be reminded that do not wander so much from restricted areas. Israel is a jaw dropping place and i recomend it all they just have to watch the news.