Paris Calls School ‘Palestine’ Map a ‘Simple Error’
Responding to parents who complained about the distribution at public schools of a map which labeled Israel as “Palestine,” the City of Paris said it was the result of “a simple production error.”
The city’s media department gave the explanation in a statement it published Friday about the distribution earlier this year to elementary school pupils of a calendar that contains a map of Europe and parts of the Middle East.
The map, which ends north of central Israel the West Bank, designates the territory of Israel included in it as “Palestine,” alongside Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey. In addition to omitting Israel’s name, it contains no mention of Saudi Arabia and Jordan, though it contains parts of those countries, according to a reproduction of the map published by the news site Jssnews.com.
“The borders of the map divide incorrectly the geographic area occupied by Israel and Palestine,” read the city’s statement, which referenced angry reactions by parents to the map distributed by the League against Cancer. “The city affirms that this constitutes no adoption of any political stance.”
The city noted that the calendar included an additional international map where both Israel and what the country referred to as “Palestine” are listed.
In addition to textbooks throughout the Muslim world, Israel’s name often is absent from atlases, textbooks and official publications by firms seeking to avoid angering Arab consumers over Israel.
In many cases, rebuke about these omissions have resulted in corrections citing technical problems.
In August, Air France said it “deeply regrets” the technical problems that omitted Tel Aviv and Jerusalem from in-flight map displays that showed Gaza and the West Bank. In November, the French kitchenware company Tefal, which omitted its Israeli distributors from its website, also pulled its entry for “Palestine” amid protests.
And in May, a Dutch restaurant cited “culinary reasons” for omitting Israel from its maps of the Middle East.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
