Palestine is exactly where it was. Google cannot you see!

Certainly, the news agonised Palestinians worldwide and those who wants a peaceful solution to the conflict.

 

#PalestineIsHere @googlemaps, why are there no results for Palestine? @google pic.twitter.com/gESS5xQZj0

— D@r6y (@DarbyKathleen) August 9, 2016

Thousands of people have started an online petition urging Google to reinstate Palestine on the maps service after it replaced the partially recognised state’s name with Israel.

More than 170,000 signatories have backed a Change.org petition entitled “Google: Put Palestine on your maps” as of Tuesday.  

@googlemaps a geography lesson: #PalestineIsHere and exists.The 5 million palestinians in Gaza and West Bank are not in Israel #BDSMovement — Ferran (@ferrangom1973) August 8, 2016

The petition accused Google Maps of “making itself complicit in the Israeli government’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine” either on purpose or inadvertently.

Drafted by Zak Martin, the online petition criticised the omission of the UN non-member observer state’s name on the map as a “grievous insult” to Palestinians.

The petition also got a back from the Palestinian Journalists’ Forum that also started an online campaign against Google.

 

shame on you google it’s palestine not isreal 🔥🇮🇱🔥🇮🇱🔥 pic.twitter.com/KJW8EebHnP

— zaheer (@zxheex) August 8, 2016

“[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,” said PJF in a statement.

PJF called on Google to put Palestine’s name back on the Google Maps service.

People reacted on Twitter using hashtags #PalestineIsHere and #BoycottGoogle. They want to know why Google intended to take sides in a long-drawn-out serious conflict.  

Dear @googlemaps, Palestine exists! #FreePalestine #PalestineIsHere #BoycottGoogle pic.twitter.com/9cWqziofId — Ainara (@afraileromero) August 8, 2016

 

Dear Google! Palestine is here in our heart. #ShameOnYouGoogle #PalestineIsHere https://t.co/TGsZIJQ3Xf — Akum L Situmorang (@akumlaksana1) August 8, 2016

 

They want Google to feel ashamed for faking history and being unfair for no reason.

Dear #google, if you know everything, just know one more thing today that #PalestineIsHere.

— marialari (@marealari) August 9, 2016

Many of them actually switching to other search engines and boycotting the US tech giant for its decision.  

#boycottgoogle : nouveau moteur de recherche plus honnête 👑☺️😘pic.twitter.com/pvcHufbLOW — Myriam (@MyriamZhouani) August 8, 2016

 

Palestine is a reality. The UN had given it a non-member observer status in November 2012 despite opposition from Israel and US.

It was a step toward Palestine’s official statehood. After the vote, the PA sent a letter to Google calling on it to include Palestine into its countries’ list. In 2013, Google changed the tagline on its Palestinian version from ‘Palestinian territories’ to ‘Palestine’.

Google spokesperson Nathan Tyler had 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…and other international organisations.”