Israeli-Palestinian conflict strikes Facebook
Last month, pro-Palestinians, who hope Jerusalem will be the capital of a future Palestinian state, were angered when the board game Monopoly listed “Jerusalem, Israel,” as a candidate city for its world edition. Recently, though, the controversy went the other way around at Facebook, the social-networking site. Jewish settlers living in the occupied West Bank, in places ...
Last month, pro-Palestinians, who hope Jerusalem will be the capital of a future Palestinian state, were angered when the board game Monopoly listed "Jerusalem, Israel," as a candidate city for its world edition. Recently, though, the controversy went the other way around at Facebook, the social-networking site.
Last month, pro-Palestinians, who hope Jerusalem will be the capital of a future Palestinian state, were angered when the board game Monopoly listed “Jerusalem, Israel,” as a candidate city for its world edition. Recently, though, the controversy went the other way around at Facebook, the social-networking site.
Jewish settlers living in the occupied West Bank, in places such as Maale Adumin and Ariel, were angered when Facebook automatically listed their hometowns as being located in Palestine. Facebook heard their outcry, however, and now residents in Israeli West Bank settlements can choose between with Israel and Palestine.
Of course, opposing Facebook groups are now looking for members. The group “ITS [sic] NOT ‘PALESTINE’- IT’S ‘ISRAEL'” has nearly 14,000 members, while the group “If Palestine is removed from Facebook… Im [sic] closing my account.” has around 4,600 members.
It all goes to show that on the Web, nobody has a monopoly on outrage.
Preeti Aroon was copy chief at Foreign Policy from 2009-2016 and was an assistant editor from 2007-2009. Twitter: @pjaroonFP
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