Apple Removes Intifada App From Store

7:17 p.m. | Updated Updating headline and post to reflect that Apple removed the app.

Apple removed an application from its App Store on Wednesday after a Jewish human rights group and a top Israeli official said it contained anti-Semitic content and promoted violence against Israel.

The app, “The Third Intifada,” notified people of upcoming protests against Israel and also highlighted anti-Israel news and opinion from around the Web.

“We removed this app from the App Store because it violates the developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people,” an Apple spokesman said Wednesday evening.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a group dedicated to stopping anti-Semitism, put out a statement on Tuesday asking the company to “immediately withdraw its approval” of the application. The center said that its researchers had found that the app “contains anti-Israel content — articles, photographs of ‘martyrs’ and stories — and updates its users on further incitements to protest and violence.”

According to Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, Yuli Edelstein, an Israeli minister of public affairs, also sent a letter to Apple asking for the “immediate removal” of the application from the App Store.

Apple states in its App Store policy, under section 19, which pertains to religion, culture, and ethnicity that “Apps containing references or commentary about a religious, cultural or ethnic group that are defamatory, offensive, mean-spirited or likely to expose the targeted group to harm or violence will be rejected.”

In March, Facebook removed a group,  “3rd Intifada,” that was said to be  promoting violence against Israel. A Facebook representative told The Jerusalem Post that the group’s page was taken down after Facebook “received repeated warnings about posts that violated our policies.”

Apple's new killer app

Information and Hasbara Minister Yuli Edelstein has called upon Apple Corporation to remove a new application for its iPhones called Third Intifadeh, whichencourages violence against Jews.

Called “The Third Intifada,” the Arabic-language app features articles and stories by radical Arab members of Fatah and Hamas, as well as members of the Palestinian Authority. They discuss strategies to use in fighting IDF soldiers, and glorify acts of violence that have already taken place.

The app also features photos and images of Arab youths throwing stones and bombs at Israelis, and a collection of “intifada music” popular in the PA. In addition, it has a social media component, designed to allow activists to organize “flash mobs” on the go, gathering quickly at specific times and places to attack Israelis.

The app was developed by the same group that created the Facebook “Nakba Day fan page,” that was used in May to organize demonstrations and riots against Israeli police and soldiers. The page was taken down after mass complaints to Facebook.

Information and Hasbara Minister Yuli Edelstein called on Apple to withdraw the app from its online store. In a letter to Apple executives, including company director Steve Jobs, Edelstein wrote that after examining the app, “we can clearly point to this app as being anti-Israel and anti-Zionist. It clearly calls for an uprising against Israel. One of the app's objectives is to allow Palestinians to gather quickly for protests – some of them violent – that are planned."

“I believe that Apple, as a pioneering company, places the values of freedom of speech and creativity on a high level,” Edelstein continued. “At the same time, Apple is no doubt aware of the damage an app like this can cause. I ask you to please remove the app and restore your company to its preeminent place as a supplier of information and entertainment, and not to allow your good name to be used for incitement.”

Apple hasn't responded yet, but an examination of previous political controversies surrounding apps shows that Apple has removed a number that were considered offensive – including one that contained offensive drawings of golfer Tiger Woods, and another with political cartoons about which users complained.

If they don't remove it - and soon - we ought to start a boycott against Apple. This is outrageous.