Palestine is no more in Google Map : Thousands have signed petition to reinstate

West Bank, Aug 09: 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.

“This is part of the Israeli scheme to establish its name as a legitimate state for generations to come and abolish Palestine once and for all,” the statement, cited by the Middle East Monitor, reads.

Google removes Palestine from its world Map .. Wow pic.twitter.com/HsQL4nOozp

— AlQubaty (@FakhuusHashim) August 8, 2016

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.