A popular online travel reservation site has erased its categorization of Jerusalem as an “Israeli settlement” after being contacted for questioning by a Belgian Jewish newspaper.
By: JNS and United with Israel Staff
The online travel reservation service Booking.com has erased its categorization of Jerusalem as an “Israeli settlement” after being contacted for questioning by a Belgian Jewish newspaper.
Booking.com, which is based in Amsterdam, made the change on Tuesday, just hours after the editor in chief of the Antwerp Joods Actueel newspaper wrote to the company, asking why it refers to the historic, ancient city as a “settlement.”
“I thought it was a hoax until I checked it out and saw it with my own eyes,” said the editor Michael Freilich, after receiving a tip from a reader.
Jerusalem is now in Israel on the Booking.com website.
The company did not reply to Freilich.
Israel has repeatedly been forced to confront organizations and businesses which have tried to create a political reality through their services.
For instance, HarperCollins, one of the world’s leading publishing companies, has omitted Israel from atlases it produces for English-speaking schools in the Middle East, buckling to Arab pressure on the issue.
The blatant distortion of reality generated a public outcry, forcing HarperCollins to issue a public apology. The company announced that the atlas “has now been removed from sale in all territories and all remaining stock will be pulped. HarperCollins sincerely apologizes for this omission and for any offense caused.”
In another case, CNN replaced Israel with “Palestine,” but was forced to fix the error after public protest.
Following action taken by Honest Reporting and complaints to CNN by many of their subscribers, CNN removed the map in question and replaced it with another image.