Facebook stirs Middle East unrest

SOCIAL NOT-WORKING site, Facebook, has found itself in hot water with Jewish settlers seething at them for being listed as residents of Palestine. After vitriolic outpourings of rage by the settlers, terrified Facebook has decided to appease their anger by allowing them to switch themselves back to Israel.

In the past, Facebook users who lived in the Jewish settlements of Maale Adumim, Ariel and other occupied West Bank territories automatically had their home country listed as Palestine by the not-working site. This prompted accusations from settlers which reckoned Facebook was carrying out a political agenda. One clearly misinformed settler wrote in a Facebook posting “We do not live in 'Palestine', nor does anyone else" (the 3.8 million Palestinian Arabs in the vicinity obviously don’t exist).

Facebook's director of communications, Brandee Barker, told Reuters that users who lived in large settlement blocks could now, in fact, choose whether to be listed as being residents of Israel or Palestine. 18 West Bank settlements are currently listed on Facebook, which, like the Israeli government, has promised to add many more in the future.

Facebook, in what may or may not be a political agenda, recognises Jerusalem as being Israeli territory. µ

L'Inq
Reuters