[Xploit Machine]

Online Outrage After Google ‘Erases’ Palestine

Thousands have signed a petition urging Google to reinstate Palestine on the maps service after it replaced the partially recognized state’s name with Israel. Local journalists berated the move as a failed attempt aimed at falsifying history and geography.

Over 150,000 signatories have backed a Change.org petition entitled Google: Put Palestine on your maps as of Monday, accusing Google Maps of making itself complicit in the Israeli government’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine either on purpose or inadvertently. The petition, drafted by Zak Martin, slams the omission of the UN non-member observer state’s name on the map as a grievous insult to Palestinians.

The petition saw a dramatic rise in a number of signatories in the past few days after a statement by the Palestinian Journalists’ Forum [PJF] triggered an online campaign against Google.

The group demanded Google reverse its move from July 25 when it removed Palestine’s name completely from its map application by designating all Palestinian territories as Israel. The journalists argued the controversial decision which is contrary to all international norms and conventions denies the Palestinians right to homeland and merely designed to falsify history and geography.

If one tries to type Palestine into Google Maps search, he will be shown a blank space within Israel’s territory marking the areas of Gaza, Judea and Samaria with a dashed line, without naming them.

The anger over the move inspired the Twitter hashtags #BoycottGoogle and #PalestineIsHere with people venting their frustration at Google for apparently taking sides in a protracted conflict.

Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas called the General Assembly’s vote a step toward the Palestine’s official statehood, saying that the body called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the State of Palestine.

READ MORE:'Palestine' tagline appears on Google to Israel’s disapproval

Following the vote, the PA sent a letter to Google calling on it to include Palestine into its countries’ index. In 2013 the company had satisfied the request changing the tagline on its Palestinian version from ‘Palestinian territories’ to ‘Palestine’.

We’re changing the name ‘Palestinian Territories’ to ‘Palestine’ across our products. We consult a number of sources and authorities when naming countries. In this case, we are following the lead of the UN...and other international organizations, Google spokesperson Nathan Tyler said at the time.

More https://www.rt.com/news/355166-pales...srael-protest/

[Keydog]

I used to be sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, Israelis can be such heavy-handed bullies. But they's crazy motherfuckers, to quote Colonel Kurtz: