Monopoly was the unlikely subject of controversy this week after a reference to Israel was removed from an online poll to select the places that will be featured in the international version of the game.
Last week, the Jewish News reported that fans of the popular pastime were being invited to vote for up to 10 cities from a list of 68 – including Jerusalem - that they would like to see included on the new MONOPOLY Here & Now: The World Edition game board.
The vote has attracted million of votes, with Jerusalem currently fourth on the leaderboard and with every chance of making the cut.
But while every other city is listed alongside the country in which it is situated, the discovery this that ‘Israel’ was no longer listed alongside ‘Jerusalem’ brought expressions of disappointment from community leaders. Israel had been mentioned until recent days.
Zionist Federation President Eric Moonman told TJ: “It’s a great pity that politics has come into a happy-go-lucky board game which I personally received as a barmitzvah present and spent the next two or three years playing on a Sunday afternoon.” Expressing hope that there would be a re-think, he added: “If every other reference on the leaderboard carries the city and the country then the very nature of the omission is bizarre.”
Board of Deputies Chief Executive Jon Benjamin said: “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel, but this isn’t about Jerusalem’s status as a capital city. It is a simple statement of fact that Jerusalem is in Israel, whatever discussions may take place in the future about parts of the city. Of course Jerusalem should be described as part of Israel.”
A statement from Parker Brothers, the makers of Monopoly, said the company “has embarked upon an exercise to find the world’s most popular 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. We apologise for any upset this has caused our Monopoly fans and hope that they continue to support their favourite cities, all of which are deserving of a place on our final board.”
Last night, a spokesman told TJ that all the country tag lines would be removed. “We still hope people will vote for Jerusalem to give it the recognition it deserves.”
But while every other city is listed alongside the country in which it is situated, the discovery this that ‘Israel’ was no longer listed alongside ‘Jerusalem’ brought expressions of disappointment from community leaders. Israel had been mentioned until recent days.
Zionist Federation President Eric Moonman told TJ: “It’s a great pity that politics has come into a happy-go-lucky board game which I personally received as a barmitzvah present and spent the next two or three years playing on a Sunday afternoon.” Expressing hope that there would be a re-think, he added: “If every other reference on the leaderboard carries the city and the country then the very nature of the omission is bizarre.”
Board of Deputies Chief Executive Jon Benjamin said: “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel, but this isn’t about Jerusalem’s status as a capital city. It is a simple statement of fact that Jerusalem is in Israel, whatever discussions may take place in the future about parts of the city. Of course Jerusalem should be described as part of Israel.”
A statement from Parker Brothers, the makers of Monopoly, said the company “has embarked upon an exercise to find the world’s most popular 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. We apologise for any upset this has caused our Monopoly fans and hope that they continue to support their favourite cities, all of which are deserving of a place on our final board.”
Last night, a spokesman told TJ that all the country tag lines would be removed. “We still hope people will vote for Jerusalem to give it the recognition it deserves.”
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