Feb
Monopoly makes a mess of Jerusalem
PHOTO: Jerusalem, Premasagar, flickr
Even board games can’t escape the contentious Arab-Israel conflict. Hasbro recently found that out the hard way. An employee reacted to complaints from people who said the “Jerusalem, Israel” label unfairly omitted Palestinian rights to the city. The removal of Israel made Jerusalem the only city on the board without a country.
Soon thereafter, people complained of Israel’s omission. Hasbro appeased everyone by removing all countries after city names.
This comes after Israeli president Ehud Olmert recently said the issue of Jerusalem would be last on the list of issues to discuss in planned talks with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. The issue has always been a sensitive one, especially since Israel’s annexation of east Jerusalem in the 1967 war.
