Google have updated the tagline of their Palestinian webpage from Palestinian
Territories to Palestine:A great victory for palestinians!
The modification on May 1 signalled a significant triumph for the Palestinian
Authority, which has been campaigning for recognition as an independent
state rather than Israeli occupied territories for several years.
“This is a virtual victory for Palestine - a step in the right direction that
has to be followed by others, including Google Maps and Google Earth,” said
Sabri Saidam, IT consultant to Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud
Abbas.
Mr Saidam points out that many Palestinian villages with thousands of
residents have been erased on Google Maps and replaced with nearby Israeli
settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.
In November last year the United Nations General Assembly granted the
non-contiguous Palestinian territories of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and
Gaza non-member status, despite considerable opposition from the United
States and Israel, who argue that a Palestinian state can only be created as
a result of direct negotiations with their Israel rather than unilateral
action.
Immediately after winning this victory at the UN, the Palestinian Authority
issued letters to Google
and other global corporations requesting that they change their drop-down
menus to include Palestine among their index of countries.
“In most online menus you won’t find Palestine or even Palestinian territories
among the national options. Palestinian users are still forced to choose
between either Israel or Jordan,” Mr Saidam explained, adding that he hopes
that Facebook, Microsoft and other online giants will follow Google’s lead.
Announcing Google’s change of policy on Friday, spokesman Nathan Tyler said: "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, Icann [the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers], ISO [International Organisation
for Standardisation] and other international organisations."
Yigal Palmore, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, said the change raised
questions “about the reasons behind this surprising involvement of what is
basically a private internet company in international politics - and on the
controversial side.”
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