HarperCollins Omits Israel From Atlas

                The publisher HarperCollins recently created an atlas for schools in the Middle East, with Israel omitted. The West Bank and Gaza were there, Israel not so much. A spokesman ‘explained’  that ‘denoting’ Israel would have been “unacceptable,” and that a company has to satisfy “local preferences.”

                There was another “local preference”- in Germany- some decades ago. Israel didn’t exist then, so it was the Jewish people some didn’t want to “denote.” The Jews weren’t just omitted then. They were slaughtered. Millions actually no longer existed.

                HarperCollins, pretending people and places don’t exist is not a cost of doing business. And it is absurd for a publisher of educational materials.

                The company eventually withdrew the atlas and apologized, but I may ‘omit’ their publications from my future reading lists.