Why is ‘Palestine’ missing from Google’s Middle East map?
The internet is accusing Google of “erasing” or “deleting” Palestine off its maps, removing reference to the disputed territory which Israel claims as its own.
As with all things Middle East, passions run high on both sides of the issue: Those who say the land belongs to Israel as a Jewish state, and those who say the land is rightfully Palestinian and is being occupied by Israelis.
A quick primer on the disputed land: The state of Israel was created in 1948 on land that had previously been controlled by the British Mandate and was considered the region of Palestine. Since then, the territory has been claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians as their rightful homeland. Violence has been commonplace for decades, as multiple wars and intifadas, or uprisings, have failed to bring peace to two peoples who claim one land. Multiple rounds of internationally-mediated peace talks have also failed.
Palestinians currently mainly reside in the West Bank, which is partially controlled by Israeli security forces, and the Gaza Strip, which is de facto controlled by militant group Hamas. Both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital.
A Google spokesperson told Engadget, "There has never been a 'Palestine' label on Google Maps, however we discovered a bug that removed the labels for 'West Bank' and 'Gaza Strip.' We're working quickly to bring these labels back to the area.” Google does show the two areas demarcated by a dotted line. This is the symbol Google uses to show disputed territory.
Even the dotted line does not capture the nuance of who lives where. Israeli settlements have been inching into the West Bank, which the U.S. believes is counterproductive to a two-state solution.
“We work to provide as much discoverable information as possible so that users can make their own judgments about geopolitical disputes,” Robert Boorstin, then director of Google’s public policy team, told Washington Monthly in 2010.
Many countries around the world recognize Palestine as a state, and it is an official non-member observer state at the United Nations, where its flag flies. The U.S. does not recognize it as an independent nation.
Those who opposed the fact that the world Palestine was not on the map took to Twitter using #PalestineIsHere to register their displeasure with they viewed as a political statement.
“This is an important issue, as Google Maps are now regarded as definitive by people around the world, including journalists, students and others carrying out research into the Israel-Palestine situation,” a change.org petition for Google to relabel Palestine reads. “Whether intentionally or otherwise, Google is making itself complicit in the Israeli government's ethnic cleansing of Palestine.”
As of Tuesday evening, over 220,000 people had signed the petition.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect Google’s explanation for the change and to clarify Palestine’s status prior to 1948.
This story was originally published August 9, 2016 at 6:39 PM with the headline "Why is ‘Palestine’ missing from Google’s Middle East map?."