AN international push to make Google show Israel’s illegal wall around Palestinian territory on its Maps service will be launched this week by a Scottish MEP.
The SNP’s Alyn Smith will launch the #showthewall petition in partnership with the global activism network Avaaz, which has 44m members in 194 countries.
Smith, who sits on the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said the absence of the so-called “separation barrier” from Google Maps appeared “deliberate and excessive”.
Started in 2002 after a wave of suicide attacks by Palestinian militants, the wall is the largest infrastructure project in Israel’s history, and will run to around 440 miles when finished, twice the length of the 1949 armistice “green line” between Israel and the West Bank.
Deviating around Israeli settlements and East Jerusalem, it has isolated around 10 per cent of West Bank territory, cutting off thousands of Palestinians from their land and families.
In 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled the wall was illegal.
But despite its scale and importance, the wall and its numerous checkpoints are not marked on Google Maps and are virtually absent from Google Street View.
A 1997 US law banning the release of detailed satellite imagery of Israel also means Google Earth’s view of the country is at too low a resolution to see the barrier.
However Smith said Google Maps and Street View were not covered by this law, and they should offer “an honest view of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories”.
Smith first complained about the omission to Matt Brittin, the president of Google Europe, Middle East and Africa, in February.
Failing to show “a 2m high electrified barbed-wire fences with vehicle-barrier trenches and a 60-m wide exclusion zone on the Palestinian side” was a “clear misrepresentation,” he said.
His letter went unanswered.
This week’s petition is designed to ramp up the pressure on Google worldwide.
And it comes just days after Israel's relationship with Palestine captured worldwide attention following a flag waving protest at Celtic Park on Wednesday for the visit of an Israeli football club.
Smith, a long-term supporter of a two-state solution for Israel-Palestine and critic of Israel’s illegal settlements, said: “The State of Israel has a right to security within its borders, but the illegal wall is a breach of international law and an affront to any sense of democracy.
“When I was last in the countries I was staggered at the scale and scope of the fortifications, and their impact upon any viable two state solution.
“Google have a responsibility to show the world as it is. In my view they are failing in that duty."
Smith, who is also a candidate in the SNP deputy leadership, went on: “I am astonished that there is all but no sign of the Separation Wall on Google Maps.
“This is not a temporary fence we’re talking about. The wall is now 280 miles in length and up to 8m high and has been separating Palestinian areas for decades.
“We are talking about public areas and public roads which, in theory, should be accessible to anyone.
"We cannot simply pretend that the Wall is not there.
“Google should be proud that millions of people use their services. It's an amazing service and should be rightly proud. Google should aspire to provide as accurate information as possible.
"Instead, I am concerned that in effect they have acquiesced in censorship of the daily reality for Israeli and Palestinian alike living in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
"Any lasting peace in the Middle East must be based on democracy and transparency, as well as international law. Google can help in shining a light on the reality in the region.”
Fadi Quran, the senior campaigner for Avaaz in Palestine, said Google’s current map was “customized to only serve the Israeli military and those living in the illegal settlements”, and Palestinians using the service were liable to stumble into checkpoints or off-limit areas.
“Once I looked into it, it became impossible to ignore Google’s negligence on this issue.
“Until Google Maps shows the truth of movement restrictions for Palestinians on the ground, the continued danger it puts families in will stain its brand.”
Google’s London-based PR company said it was unable to provide a response.
His comments come following a week when section of Celtic FC’s fans grabbed the spotlight by displaying Palestinian flags at the club’s Champions League fixture at home to Israeli side Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
Uefa have charged the club saying it was responsible for its fans using the tie as a political protest by waving the flag. And staging a demo outside the ground. Israeli flags were also displayed by visiting fans.
Police Scotland later ruled no crimes had been committed through the actions.
The club could yet be punished by Uefa under rules over displaying what it terms “illicit banners” when its Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Board meets on September 22.
It had appealed for supporters to refrain from showing the flags before the match took place.
The away leg takes place on Tuesday.
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