Apple removes anti-Israeli occupation app from App Store

Idris

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Apple Inc has removed at Israel's request an Arabic-language application from its iTunes store that called for a Palestinian uprising, an Israeli government statement said on Thursday.
Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli-Yoel Edelstein wrote to Apple on Tuesday, complaining that the "ThirdIntifada" application -- a reference to a future uprising planned against Israel.

A statement issued by Edelstein's ministry on Thursday welcomed "Apple's swift action" in removing the application and praised the company's decision.

A search for "ThirdIntifada" in the iTunes store found no matches.
The application offered users a stream of news stories and editorials in Arabic, announced upcoming protests and included links to nationalistic Palestinian videos and songs.

(CNN) -- Israel on Thursday applauded Apple's decision to remove an application called the "The 3rd Intifada" from its popular App Store for iPads and iPhones.

Apple removed the application Wednesday, stating that it "violates the developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people."

"Upon review of the stories, articles and photos published by means of the application, one can easily see that this is in fact anti-Israel and anti-Zionist. Furthermore, as is implied by its name, the application calls for an uprising against the state of Israel," he wrote.

The letter asked the company to cancel the application, which allowed users to comment and post photos and stories about protests opposing Israel and Israeli policies.

That letter came on the heels of a successful Israeli government campaign to remove a Facebook page of the same name a month ago.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/06/23/ ... cnn_latest

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,23 ... X1K0001121

Talk about being backwards, an app calling for an end to a brutal occupation is considered "offensive to large groups of people"...Shame on you Steve Jobs, Long live android, long live open source! :ugeek:

gimmesometruth27

yes. shame on steve jobs.

at least they still have facebook and other websites where they can keep people informed and allow them to organize. i wonder if there was an antiwar app here in the states would it be censored or removed?

it is counterintuitive that anything opposing injustice is banned...

"and the band played on..."

Jason P

Apple probably saved the lives of thousands of Palestinians by removing the application (had the application been successful in its goal) ... as well, Apple is negating any liability they may have incurred.

It's one thing to have a revolution in Egypt with a poorly managed military and little infrastructure in the government... Israel is a much different beast.

fuck

Jason P wrote:

Apple probably saved the lives of thousands of Palestinians by removing the application (had the application been successful in its goal) ... as well, Apple is negating any liability they may have incurred.

Apple assumes no liability for any apps they did not themselves create. this was purely a political move. additionally, are you saying the Palestinians are not mature enough to decide for themselves whether they have the right to uprise an illegal occupation and system of apartheid or not? It seems to me you are when you say that the white man "saved" their lives by denying them a route to organize and spread such a message. poor natives, they can't make any decisions for themselves. they seem to just want to go out and get themselves killed. they should be content with their lives and live under their brutal regime while the rest of us get drunk and go to pearl jam shows.

It's one thing to have a revolution in Egypt with a poorly managed military and little infrastructure in the government... Israel is a much different beast.

Egypt has a poorly managed military? where do you get your information? and you think that that's why the revolution succeeded? and even if Israel is a different beast than Egypt, the Palestinians still have the right to resist the zionist regime's attempts at wiping them out. shame on Apple for this stupid political move.

fuck

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

yes. shame on steve jobs.

at least they still have facebook and other websites where they can keep people informed and allow them to organize. i wonder if there was an antiwar app here in the states would it be censored or removed?

it is counterintuitive that anything opposing injustice is banned...

"and the band played on..."

actually facebook has removed the same group created on there, several times, at the request of the israeli government