Fujifilm accused
of being anti-Israel

By Diana Lynne

Fuji Photo Film, also known as Fujifilm, has become the latest high-profile corporation seen to be promoting an Arab worldview to its customers through consumer literature that denies the existence of Israel.

Fueled by Internet e-mail, the perceived bias sparked a firestorm and prompted calls in Israel to boycott Fujifilm products. Fujifilm customer service calls the matter “bogus” and the Anti-Defamation League posted an article on its website debunking the “map myth.” The issue has even landed on the website that documents urban legends, Snopes.com.

As WorldNetDaily reported in January, Motorola customers in Europe and Israel who recently purchased cellphones received consumer product brochures that omitted Israel but included the non-existent state of “Palestine” and listed Jerusalem as a Palestinian city. Motorola responded to inquiries by correcting its “mistake,” changing “Palestine” to “Palestinian Authority.” The incident prompted a furor in Israel and similar calls for a boycott were raised.

Last month, WorldNetDaily also reported that MSNBC.com’s Arabic language portal listed “Palestine” as a navigational button that linked to stories about Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and similarly omitted Israel from its site. At the time of WND’s report, MSNBC.com could not comment on WND’s “characterization” of the navigational button because it did not have access to a translation of the Arabic.

Cherylynne Crowther, vice president of marketing and communications for MSNBC.com, now says, “We did ask and they have changed ‘Palestine’ to ‘Palestinian Authority.'” Crowther further explains that the Arabic portal is intended to be an Arabic service and MSNBC.com asked its partner, GOODNEWS4ME, “not to incorporate Israel as we have future plans that could include an Israeli language portal.”

E-mails began spreading word two weeks ago that Fujifilm had “removed Israel from its complimentary world map” and speculated that it was “most likely done to entice Arab customers.” One widespread e-mail even erroneously connected Subaru-Fuji with Fujifilm. A statement released by Fujifilm declares, “No Fujifilm company or distributor published or distributed a map of the kind we have heard described, and Fujifilm in no way sanctioned the production of such a map.”

As the controversy grew, Fujifilm USA contacted its parent company in Japan, who in turn contacted all the other Fuji companies around the world, Tom Shay, director of corporate communications, told WorldNetDaily.

“In looking into the matter, we have learned that a third party wholesaler in the Republique de Cote d’Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) produced a calendar with such a map. They did so on their own initiative, combining the map with our logo without our permission and in violation of our policy regarding the use of the Fujifilm logo,” the company statement continues.

“This was nothing done by Fujifilm,” stresses Shay, “We are not trying to make any political statement and are quite upset that our name was connected to this, because it’s against our policies. … If we ever get down to the bottom of this somehow, it’s probably a very innocent mistake, but a serious one nonetheless.”

Shay expects Fujifilm to take a more proactive approach to prevent future incidents: “My guess is there will probably be communication from the parent company about being more watchful of companies using our logo.”

The Anti-Defamation League was not concerned about the perceived snub.

“We encounter instances of this all the time,” Myrna Shinbaum, spokesperson for the ADL told WorldNetDaily. “In most cases the corporations are not at fault or they made an innocent mistake. We allow for people to make mistakes as long as they’re ready to correct them.” Shinbaum expressed satisfaction with the corrections made by Motorola, MSNBC.com and Fujifilm.

“The real concern is how information and misinformation gets spread on the Internet. What we see most of the time is that stories about corporations and their relationships or lack of relationships with Israel are rumors,” Shinbaum continued. “There’s a heightened sensitivity within the Jewish community that when they see something not there that should be there, they tend to think the worst.”


Previous stories:

MSNBC declares state of Palestine

Motorola admits it goofed

Motorola declares state of Palestine


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Diana Lynne

Diana Lynne is a former news editor for WND and author of the definitive book on the Terri Schiavo saga, published by WND Books, titled "Terriā€™s Story: The Court-Ordered Death of an American Woman." Lynne tells a powerful, insightful and ultimately heartbreaking story. This eye-opening book provides the background and depth missing in most of the national news coverage of the pitched battle over the life of Terri Schiavo. Spearheaded by Lynne, WND's reporting on this battle dates back to 2002, far longer than most national media outlets, and totals more than 500 articles. Read more of Diana Lynne's articles here.