United States (US) technology giant Apple has pledged to fix the suggestion of a Palestinian flag emoji to certain iPhone users when they type “Jerusalem” in messages.
This comes after Apple on Thursday, April 11, confirmed a keyboard bug was unintentional and will be addressed in the next iOS update, Apple news outlet iMore.
This decision came after accusations were made against the company of bias against Israel, whose followers and supporters launched a campaign against the company for proposing the flag emoji of Palestine after writing the word “Jerusalem”.
British television presenter Rachel Riley, a staunch supporter of the Israel, has raised the issue on X.
“Dear @Apple @AppleSupport @tim_cook I’ve just upgraded my software to version iOS 17.4.1, and now, when I type the capital of Israel, Jerusalem, I’m offered the Palestinian flag emoji,” Riley wrote.
“This didn’t occur on my phone immediately before this update.”
“Below is a (non-exhaustive) list of capital cities that do not offer their nation’s flags, let alone the wrong one.”
“Showing double standards with respect to Israel is a form of antisemitism, which is itself a form of racism against Jewish people.”
“The Palestinian flag emoji began appearing in connection with Jerusalem following a recent iPhone operating system update,” she added.
Riley then inquired about Apple’s intentions to display the Palestinian flag when users typed in Israel, and whether it had control over rogue programmers.
” Jewish woman concerned about the global rise in antisemitism,” she concluded.
Jerusalem is not recognized as Israel’s capital under international law, while East Jerusalem, under illegal Israeli occupation, is envisioned as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
The 1948 Arab-Israel war led to Jerusalem’s partition, with Israel occupying its western half and Jordanian control in its eastern half.
East Jerusalem came under Israeli control following the Six Day War in 1967 and has been occupied illegally since. Nearly 40 percent of East Jerusalem’s population are illegal Israeli settlers.
