Israel’s government has asked Apple Inc. to remove an application called “ThirdIntifada,” which encourages uprising against Israel, from its App Store.
Israel’s Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein, made the request Tuesday in a letter sent to Apple founder and chief executive officer Steve Jobs.
The Thirdintifada application, available for free download from the Apple App Store, updates users on anti-Israel protests or allows them to organize their own, and features anti-Israel articles, as well as photos of terrorists who have attacked Israel or Israelis.
In his letter, Edelstein called the application “anti-Israel and anti-Zionist.”
“I believe APPLE, as a pioneering and progressive company, places the values of liberty, freedom of expression and creativity as a guiding light. Also, as a leader in its area, I am convinced that you are aware of this type of application’s ability to unite many toward an objective that could be disastrous,” Edelstein wrote.
“I therefore turn to you with the request to instruct the immediate removal of the application in question and thus continue the tradition of Apple applications dedicated to purely entertainment and informative purposes and not serve as an instrument for incitement to violence.”
In March, Edelman appealed to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to remove a page named “Third Intifada,” which called for a new uprising against Israel. The page was subsequently removed, though copycat pages arose in its place.
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