Google Maps recently deleted Palestine from its mapping application, but the story has more to it than meets the eye. When the news initially broke, Middle Eastern news outlets were understandably enraged at the apparent removal of the country from a popular mapping application. The move even led to the revival of a Change.org petition, which has amassed 258,391 signatures at the time of writing. Google however, had never even labeled Palestine to begin with.
A simple Google Maps search still points to the same area entitled to Palestine. The area is not labeled, but stretches from Jerusalem to the border of Jordan and from Jenin to Hebron. Cities within this region are labeled Palestinian, while Google’s Knowledge Box (which uses Wikipedia as a source) dubs Palestine a “de jure sovereign state”. Google acknowledged Palestine in 2013, when the United Nations acknowledged the country instead of calling the area “Palestinian territories”.
According to Engadget, Google has confirmed that this issue is due to a glitch. According to Google, a bug removed the labels for the Gaza Strip and West Bank. A spokesperson confirmed that Google was working on bringing back these labels quickly. It is not entirely clear how this bug found its way into Google Maps’ coding, or why it activated just now despite the mapping service having launched ages ago.
The move has sparked outrage among many global citizens. Concerned individuals took to the hashtags #palestineishere and #BoycottGoogle on Twitter to voice their concerns. Google’s mapping technology is relied upon by millions of users amidst competition from Bing Maps and Apple Maps. Apple Maps does not differentiate Palestine from Israel, and some Palestinians have hence voiced their intentions to switch to Microsoft’s Bing Maps. Bing clearly labels Palestine separately.
Such issues are bound to occur, and The Washington Post’s Caitlin Dewey pointed out other discrepancies in Google Maps. Both Ukraine and Russia lay claim to Crimea, but Google appeases both parties by showing different results depending on the origin of the search. Jerusalem is only shown as Israel’s capital, despite Palestine also having a stake in the city.
The issue is particularly sensitive given Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip and the ongoing issue between the two countries. Multiple concerns have been raised regarding Israel’s treatment of locals, with the UN even finding evidence of both Israel and Hamas committing crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip. This is why the removal of Palestine from the Maps was construed by some as a statement of support toward one party.
This is apparently not the case, and Google Maps might have fallen prey to a bug. Google needs to fix the mistake as soon as possible to avoid further controversy, and to ensure that it does not lose potential users for its mapping service. Fixing the bug will also ensure that Google appeases users who rely on Google Maps to provide an accurate representation of the world.