HarperCollins Scrubs Israel From Middle East Map
The HarperCollins publishing house has omitted Israel from maps in atlases that it sells to English-speaking schools in the Middle East.
Collins Bartholomew, a map-publishing company that is a subsidiary of HarperCollins, told The Tablet, an international Catholic news weekly based in London, that including Israel in its the “Collins Primary Geography Atlas For The Middle East” would have been “unacceptable” to their customers in the Gulf and leaving Israel off the maps incorporated “local preferences.”
The atlas is billed by the company as being “developed specifically for schools in the Middle East,” according to its website. “The maps give in-depth coverage of the region and its issues,” it also states. While Israel is not demarcated on the maps, the West Bank is clearly labeled.
Bishop Declan Lang, chairman of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales Department of International Affairs, told The Tablet that the maps will harm peace efforts.
“The publication of this atlas will confirm Israel’s belief that there exists a hostility towards their country from parts of the Arab world. It will not help to build up a spirit of trust leading to peaceful co-existence,” he said.
Customs officials in one Gulf nation did not allow the school atlases into the country until the labeling of Israel had been crossed out by hand, according to The Tablet.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
