Hasbro Opines Jerusalem no longer part of Israel
Okay, in the realm of the totally trivial:
Hasbro is trolling for business for their new international edition of Monopoly. To do this, they have instituted a vote in which people may go their website and vote for which cities they wish to appear. I have received umpteen mails about this that I should vote for Jerusalem to appear, and that seemed reasonable to me, as it is an important international city in many ways. So one day when I was being a slacker and not working on what I should have been I went over and voted for Jerusalem, Israel.
However, if you go over there now what you will find is not “Jerusalem, Israel” but simply “Jerusalem” a format in distinction to that of any other city: lacking a country.
If you believe that Hasbro should cease to opine on political matters, you may tell them so here, a URL that I include because it’s a pain to find any way to email them directly.
The same is true of the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, in contrast to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai, China, the U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and all the other embassies and consulates around the world.
Isn’t writing that it is part of Israel also a political matter?
It is fair to get upset with Hasbro, but that it is because you believe that all of Jerusalem should belong to Israel and not the Palestinians.
Just because it is the status quo, doesn’t mean that it is not political
Hello,
In the link you provided to the Hasbro page, your Login is persisting through the session ID in the URL args. Please use the following: http://hasbro.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/hasbro.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php
KRG – everything is politics. Writing “Jerusalem” states a fact. Writing “Jerusalem, Israel” either means only a part of Jerusalem (the west one plus Mt. Scopus), which is obviously discriminating to residents of Gilo as well as Issawiyyeh, or means that all of Jerusalem is part and parcel of Israel – which is obviously not true, or else the Palestinians in East Jerusalem would be able to vote.
Can anyone name another country that isn’t allowed to designate her own capitol? Whatever Israel may (foolishly) decide to give away in the future, she has declared Jerusalem her capitol city, and the only group attempting to secure a portion of that geography is not another state, but residents of a geographical area of yet to be determined status. Thus it’s not political to follow conventional custom and acknowledge Jerusalem is Israel’s capitol
I think Israel is also the only country that declared a capitol even though a third of its inhabitants (the Palestinians — there are also Israelis who want to see Jerusalem a joint capitol) are not full citizens of the state.
It is not cnoventional to do that (or at least so say… the entire world!!!!).
Seems pretty political to me.
Just because you declare something doesnt make it conventional custom.
Some of Jerusalem is in Israel and some of it is in non-annexed land formerly part of Jordan but to which Jordan has rescinded it’s claim. I can’t think of another city that is mostly in a sovereign nation but partly in non-annexed occupied land with it’s claim rescinded. can anyone else?
I believe Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem (as opposed to the rest of the West Bank) were indeed offered citizenship back when East Jerusalem was annexed; most opted against it.
I also believe that Jerusalem was annexed. It’s only the rest of the west bank that Israel never annexed.
Actually, this is not something that is exclusive to Hasbro: it’s customary in almost everything to refer to Jerusalem without a country.
It’s how the Library of Congress does it.
There’s a lot of precedent, it’s not just Hasbro deciding to do this to piss you off.
Avi– yep, Israel annexed it, and the rest of the world did not recognize the annexation. So that fits in with ZT’s point about its really weird legal status.
THe UN, EU, USA, Canada (which recently had a related court case), and many other countries do not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel; their consulates/embassies are in Tel Aviv. … Why should a company, based out of the US, be any different?
am I the only one that doesn’t *need* to see Jerusalem OR Israel associated with this edition of the paean to capitalism that is MONOPOLY?
sorta reinforces some negative stereotypes, no?
Jerusalem was annexed. The residents of the annexed territory were not offered citizenship, and they are “permanant residents” (i.e. disenfranchised ones) instead. Offering them citizenship would offset the “demographic balance” Mapai was desperately trying to keep. The annexation was not recognized by the rest of the world, and I have a US passport saying I was born in “Jerusalem” to prove it.
Can anyone name another country that isn’t allowed to designate her own capitol?
How about a country of about the same age that’s not allowed to say it’s a country?
Like the Republic of China, for example. The US Consulate in Jerusalem may not be in Jerusalem, Israel, but at least it has a consulate and Israel has an embassy. Taiwan doesn’t get an embassy or a consulate, just an “American Institute.”
Why do we care whether or not the Gentiles recognize Jerusalem as our capitol? Is Zionism not the Jewish people taking matters back into our own hands, irrespective of what others may think?
Amit–Jerusalem Palestinians may apply for Israeli citizenship (note that so many did so after the Camp David talks that the Jerusalem Mufti publicly prohibited such application.)
And check the Central Burea of Statistics website–they certainly list Jerusalem Palestinians with permanent residency status.
But no doubt that it would be better if they had status in their own place, and no political status in Israel whatesover–and as little to do with Israel as possible.
Actually, now the Monopoly site removed all the country names. I’m looking forward to buying the game. Wonder what the currency will be 🙂
Jerusalem Palestinians are not citizens, and the government wouldn’t let them vote in a million years. The fact that the CBS lists them is nice, but they still are disenfranchised.
And Jerusalem is the capital city of a country called Israel. Not the “Jewish People”, whoever the hell they are, since (1) they don’t pay any taxes here and (2) they don’t live here.
Well as of this morning the website no longer lists countries next to any of the cities, a pretty savvy move IMHO
Amit,
I’m sorry, my friend, but you are wrong. 12,000 Jerusalem Palestinians have taken out Israeli citizenship over the years, and they all have the legal right to apply–no doubt that the Interior Ministry is not anxious to assist in that process though.
We agree that they are disenfrachised. So let them have their Palestine and we can have our Israel. Is that too much to ask?
“Jewish People” don’t pay taxes here or live here? Where exactly do you live?
It is too much to ask if they can’t have their capitol in Jerusalem where they (and I) live. (well, i guess you can ask, but it seems fair that Hasbro and the Palestinians say no)
some of the confusion, i think, comes from the fact that East Jerusalemites can vote in Jerusalem municipal but not (i think) Israeli national elections.
mazal tov, you sound like this one:
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/02/hasbro-explains.html
Yael–
We agree 100%.
Let the Arab areas of the land become Palestine, and the Jewish areas stay Israel.
Is that to much to ask?
Thank you for contacting us. We are pleased to be able to respond.
Parker Brothers, the makers of board game Monopoly has embarked upon an exercise to find the world’s most famous cities as voted for by the public. It was never our intention to print any countries on the final boards and any online tags were merely used as a geographic reference to help with city selection. This is clearly stated in the terms and conditions of our campaign.
We would never want to enter into any political debate. Unfortunately, a mid-level person made a series of regrettable decisions without consulting senior management. We apologize for any upset this has caused our Monopoly fans and hope that they continue to support their favorite cities, all of which are deserving of a place on our final board – Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition which will be released in autumn 2008. The 20 pre-selected cities with the highest worldwide votes on February 29, 2008 will make it onto the board. Plus voters will have from February 29 to March 9, 2008 to vote on the most nominated Wildcard cities. Only the top two will make it on the board.
All references to countries have been removed from our website, which is how the final game board will appear.
We want to assure you that we are dedicated to maintaining quality products and service. We hope you and your family will continue to enjoy our products for many years to come.
Again, thank you for contacting us.
Hear it discussed on National Palestinian Radio.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19266705&ft=1&f=1006
I am trying to find Richard Hoch, graduate of UCSB. Please contact Jill Franklin at [email protected]. Thank you.
oops–[email protected]