Google has denied Palestine ever appeared on its maps after claims the state had been “airbrushed” from the service.
The search engine giant said this week there had never been a label for the country on its maps, despite it being recognised by 136 UN members as an independent state.
Instead of the solid lines that mark out a country, Google uses a dashed border around the West Bank and Gaza Strip to show them as disputed territories.
But a glitch this week caused the labels for both territories to disappear from the service, leading to a furious online reaction using the hashtag #PalestineIsHere.
"You can change the map Google but you can't change the reality," read one response which was typical of the criticism.
But the company says that there has never been a 'Palestine' label on Google Maps.
Google employees discovered a bug that removed the labels for 'West Bank' and 'Gaza Strip', it has been claimed.
The company is said to be working quickly to get the labels back to the area.
This week's internet anger followed a petition from March this year signed by more than 250,000 people calling for Palestine to be shown as a separate country to Israel on Maps.
They claimed the company had “airbrushed” Palestine out and accused it of “aiding and abetting” Israel.
