SoylentNews

Google Maps Accused of Deleting Palestine - But the Truth is More Complicated

posted by martyb on Thursday August 11 2016, @04:16PM   
from the "Here-be-dragons" dept.

n1 writes:

Google has been accused of deleting Palestine from Google Maps – but the truth is, it was never labelled by Google in the first place.

When searching for Palestine on Google Maps, it shows an outline, but with no label for Palestine and Israel labelled alongside it. While 136 members of the United Nations recognise Palestine as an independent state, the US and much of the west does not.

[...] A Google spokeswoman said: "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."

[...] A 2014 project called Disputed Territories documented how Google Maps attempts to stay out of geographical disputes and issues of national identity.

For example: users in Russia see a solid boundary line around Russia and Crimea. Outside of Russia, Crimea is surrounded by dashed lines, indicating it as occupied territory.

Source: The Guardian

---

Original Submission

• The US is up to its antics, as usual (Score: 5, Informative) by korger on Thursday August 11 2016, @09:01PM

  by korger (4465) on Thursday August 11 2016, @09:01PM (#386784)

  The US does not recognize Palestine, and the problem here is that an American firm is pushing this view on other countries who have a different world view. The US is so powerful that it always finds a way to promote its agenda and convert others. This must stop.

  I'm just reading the book "O Jerusalem!" by Larry Collins and Dominique LaPierre. This follows the early history of modern Israel, and the US support it enjoys. In the first chapter they review how the UN General Assembly was holding a vote on Wednesday, November 26, 1947, about the partitioning of Palestine, leading to the creation of Israel. A two-thirds majority in the council was required, and the supporters of partitioning came up short. So the Jewish delegate filibustered, pushing the vote to Saturday. In the meantime the US used its tremendous power to change how other nations were thinking about the decision.

  During that crucial interlude, four nations opposed to partition, Greece, Haiti, Liberia and the Philippines, were subjected to a deluge of diplomatic pressures and menaces. The United States, again acting on the instigation of the White House, threw the full impact of its tremendous prestige behind the Jewish cause. Two justices of the United states Supreme Court personally called Philippine President Carlos Rojas warning that "the Philippines will isolate millions and millions of American friends and supporters if they continue in their efforts to vote against partition." Twenty-six senators cabled Rojas and urged him to change his nation's vote. The Philippine Ambassador was summoned to a blunt but intensive briefing at the White House. Finally Rojas ordered his delegation "in the higher national interest" to switch its vote from against to for partition.

  Threatened with a Jewish boycott of his firm's products, Harvey Firestone of the Firestone Rubber Company intervened personally with William Tubman, President of Liberia. If Liberia didn't change her vote, Tubman was told, the company would have to reconsider plans to expand its rubber acreage there. Senior statesman Adolf A. Berle's help was enlisted in bringing pressure to bear on the government of Haiti. The Greeks were torn between pressures from an ally on whose aid Greece was increasingly dependent in prosecuting the civil war and fears of reprisals on the large Greek colonies scattered through the Arab countries.

  All the four gave in to the US interests. That crucial vote saw, in effect, the US voting multiple times, while other UN members left out of the vote, unable to represent their own interests. This US/Zionist agenda being forced on the rest of the world has been with us since then. This Google Maps issue may seem like a trifle thing compared to those, but these small things add up, and they influence how people think. Therefore this issue is too important to be dismissed as a simple technical glitch.

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Moderation		+3
  Interesting=1, Informative=2, Total=3
  Extra 'Informative' Modifier		0
  Karma-Bonus Modifier		+1
  Total Score:		5