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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israeli town sues Google Earth for slander |
| 2008-02-12 |
| An Israeli town is suing the internet giant Google for slander because a feature of its worldwide map service shows the town was built on the ruins of an Arab village. Kiryat Yam is a town of 40,000 on the coast just north of Haifa. An entry on Google Earth, a feature that allows users to zero in on locations around the world, alleges that the town was built on the ruins of Ghawarina, an Arab village. Kiryat Yam was pulled into the dispute – one of the hottest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – when a Google Earth user, Thameen Darby, inserted a note on the map saying it was built on the location of Ghawarina. Darby has inserted at least ten such notes over Google's map. |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #10 Gaza had a substantial Jewish population at the time of the Napoleonic invasion - 1799. And I came across this interesting quote for those of you interested in the historical accuracy of the Bible, from one of Napoleon's officers. "On the morning of the 28th we crossed the Red Sea dry shod...Near the port the Red Sea is not above 1,500 meters wide, and is always fordable at low water...at high tide the water rises five or six feet at Suez, and when the wind blows fresh it often rises nine or ten feet." |
| Posted by: phil_b 2008-02-12 17:27 |
| #9 He should check around. I'm sure he'll find about 10,000 Ghawarinas if he does. |
| Posted by: gorb 2008-02-12 14:45 |
| #8 Remarks from a Canadian commenter at the link: The guy who inserted the note on the Google map locating, Ghawarina, a former Arab village where the Israeli town of Kiryat Yam is, north of Haifa, also has a website in which he also locates Ghawarina south of Haifa, so he seems to be having trouble with the location. He says he was relying on his mother's memory and isn't sure exactly where Ghawarina is located but if a reliable source knows, he'll quickly change the location. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2008-02-12 13:29 |
| #7 this guy darby is some kind of obsessive, whos cluttered up the israel part of google earth with his ten thousand or so "pal villages" most of which were probably tiny hamlets AFAICT. Ive been surprised its taken israeli users so long to respond. Its time someone challenged Darby. Hes also a wikipedia warrior as well. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-02-12 10:53 |
| #6 Useful fifth column Idiots: re: Israel Google Earth fakes "stole" Palestinian land |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2008-02-12 07:36 |
| #5 Semites, Philistines, and an assortment of blood lines, but arabs would have been something that didn't show up till the 'Conquests' at the earliest. So, is Google Earth inserting little things like 'ancient ruin of Judea' around the Temple Mount? or do they get a little tight feeling around the neck? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-02-12 07:09 |
| #4 Jihad has many battlefields. Google, Yahoo and YouTube are just the latest. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-02-12 07:07 |
| #3 Jehovah promised it to the Israelites . . . And the UN mandated it to the Israelites. |
| Posted by: gorb 2008-02-12 05:38 |
| #2 Ethnic pride I should say. I would imagine that Kiryat Yam was probable settled in any event, on ancient Philistine lands and or townships in antiquity. No matter who homesteaded the area, Jehovah promised it to the Israelites, and saw to it that they got it; and if it's good enough for the Lord, than it's good enough for Google Earth®. Make sure the word 'Allege' is sited, and let the Israel Antiquities Authority iterate the pros and cons of the assumption, and forward that to GE!! |
| Posted by: smn 2008-02-12 03:50 |
| #1 It's either a fact or it's not. If it's not factual it needs to be cleaned up. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2008-02-12 00:52 |