Changes announced

Uproar over Palestine bug in Apple’s iPhone keyboard

The US technology giant Apple has announced that it wants to change the way some users are suggested an emoji with the Palestinian flag when typing "Jerusalem". The company blamed a software error for this on Thursday. The emoji suggestion on the iPhone keyboard was not intentional and will be fixed with the next update for its mobile operating system, Apple announced.

British television presenter Rachel Riley drew attention to the error. "When I type in the capital of Israel, Jerusalem, the emoji of the Palestinian flag is suggested," wrote Riley on the online service X, formerly Twitter, and called on the US technology giant to provide an explanation.

The moderator pointed out that no flag emojis are suggested when other capitals are entered. Having double standards when it comes to Israel "is a form of anti-Semitism, which in turn is a form of racism against Jewish people," Riley wrote, going on to say that the emoji with the Palestinian flag in connection with Jerusalem has been appearing since a recent update.

The status of Jerusalem is a major point of contention in the Middle East conflict. Both Israel and the Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital - Israel the entire city, the Palestinians the eastern part. Due to the city's unresolved status, the diplomatic consensus for a long time was that foreign states should not locate their embassies in the city.