Apple has removed an offensive anti-Israel smartphone application from its popular App Store. The move is a response to a letter from Yuli Edelstein, Israel’s Minister for Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, saying “The Third Intifada” is a call for an uprising against the State of Israel.
“We removed this app from the App Store because it violates the developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people,” Apple said in a published statement.
Written in Arabic, the app lets users post comments and photos about anti-Israel protests and policies. Reuters reports that the app offered users a stream of news stories and editorials in Arabic, announces upcoming protests, and includes links to nationalistic Palestinian videos and songs.
Edelstein’s ministry on Thursday appreciated “Apple’s swift action” to take down the application.
The Dubai-based app developer was also behind the “Third Intifada” Facebook page, which was promptly taken down following protests from the Wiesenthal Center, among others, to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
