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March 1, 2001 Hatzofeh
The UN financed a Palestinian tourist map of the Holy Land that does not name the State of Israel, and the entire center of the country, excepting Gaza and Samaria, is represented as being unsettled.
The only Jewish communities that appear on this map are cited with their Arabic names, such as el-Hadarat (Hadera), Ramle, Askelan (Ashkelon), Ashdout (Ashdod) and Tal Arabe (Tel Aviv).
The map was discovered by a journalist, David Bedein, from the Israel Resource News Agency. The bottom of the map notes that its production was financed by the UN’s Development Department, whose offices are located on Yaakobi Street, West Jerusalem. One of the UN officials in the office confirmed to Bedein that the map’s production had been financed by his department. But the official and his secretary later denied they had had any knowledge of the project.
Emanuel Nahshon, a deputy-spokesman in the Foreign Ministry, told Hatzofe yesterday that this map was part of the Palestinian propaganda that was geared to eradicate the State of Israel and delegitimize it.
He said the Foreign Ministry could only express regret that the UN had financed a project whose goal it was to turn the State of Israel into a white blotch on the map. […]
