Why People Cannot Find Palestine on Google Maps

Jakarta – Anyone searching Palestine on Google Maps right now would be brought to geographical boundary labelled only as Israel. The state is marked out on the map, intersected with lines outlining Palestinian territory. 

However, there is no label recognising the state, which has triggered online protests. 

The social media users have accused both Apple and Google of erasing Palestine, a partially recognised state and neighbour of Israel. 

But neither tech giant included the state in their maps before, and it has drawn controversy in the past. 

A total of 138 United Nations members recognise Palestine as independent, but much of the west does not. 

The United States is amongst those who choose not to formally recognise the state, and currently houses both Google and Apple. 

The issue sparked concern once more in 2011, leading the forum of Palestinian journalists to release a statement condemning Google. 

The company responded, acknowledging a "bug" which mislabeled parts of the map at the time, but denying it had previously labelled Palestine. 

"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," A spokeswoman stated. 

"We’re working quickly to bring these labels back to the area,"