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Comment by axusgrad | Hacker News Reader

I took his advice and Googled "Dead Sea Cosmetics". Apparently one of the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables had details about a company exploiting young Israelis, to take tourist visas and sell these cosmetics in malls.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5519017/WikiLeaks-delves-int...

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It goes deeper than that. As soon as I read "skin care products at the mall" I immediately thought, "I wonder if the sales person was from Israel". I honestly didn't think I would see that addressed.

Do you remember those Zoom Copters that used to be in every single mall across America?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJyCAZGRpf8

Wow, it's not every day that someone can get personal sales lessons from a potential spy! ;-)

Hah - years ago, my aunt was stopped in a mall by a young Israeli guy selling these products. She mentioned that she'd been to the Dead Sea on a trip to Jordan and seen them selling similar products for a fraction of the price.

The salesman, unfazed, asked her if she was perhaps mistaken and thinking of the 'Red Sea, because the Dead Sea is in in Israel[1]'.

Thankfully, my aunt taught history, so she knew her geography well enough to know that he was just trying to pull the wool over her eyes.

[1] Which is technically true, since it sits on the border. But I wouldn't tell a Canadian that they were mistaken, because 'Niagara Falls is in the US'.

A bit more than technically true. The Dead Sea is an Israeli icon...

Abe, I think you missed the point - Niagara Falls is (partly) in the US and is an American landmark, but I wouldn't tell a Canadian that they were 'mistaken' about visiting Niagara Falls on a trip to Ontario 'because Niagara Falls is in the US'.

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