Apple and Google have been accused of deleting Palestine from their online maps — even though it was never being labelled in the first place — sparking outrage among pro-Palestinian activists and prompting the Palestinian Authority’s communications minister to reportedly shun Ramallah’s use of the search engine.
The accusation that “Palestine” was erased came from a viral Instagram post by a user called “Astagfirvlah” on Wednesday.
The Jerusalem Post on Saturday reported the PA communications ministry announced the Ramallah government was searching for an alternative to Google over the “erasure.”
However, the Instagram post — and ensuing fury — were revealed to be unfounded since neither Google nor Apple have ever included the “Palestine” label on their maps, since no such state exists. According to Google’s policy, “Disputed boundaries are displayed as a dashed grey line. The places involved don’t agree on a boundary.”
The Instagram post was updated to say the information was false, but went on to say that “maps develop to our national consciousness….this is a revolutionary year, and we will fight for the needed change to bring Palestine on the maps.”