Spotify faces criticism in Israel after map omits West Bank, Golan
Music streaming giant removes post from its Hebrew-language Facebook page after receiving complaints
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleMichael Bachner is a news editor at The Times of Israel
A video posted by Spotify on its official Israeli Facebook page drew ire on Sunday for displaying a map of Israel that omitted the West Bank and the Golan Heights.
The popular music streaming company, which recently established services in Israel, deleted the post after readers complained, but offered no comment on the matter, Hadashot TV news reported.
The Hebrew-language video was about the Israeli electronic indie pop band Garden City Movement, and showed the cities where the most customers listened to its single, “Move On.”
The video made use of graphics to show maps of Taiwan, Israel, Mexico, Chile and the UK, to correspond with the cities featured in the video: Taipei, Tel Aviv, Mexico City, Santiago and London, respectively.
But some users pointed out that the map of Israel was missing the West Bank and the Golan Heights, areas seen by many Israelis as part of the country. The Gaza Strip was also omitted.
ספוטיפיי מציג: מפת ישראל – בלי השטחים | בדף הפייסבוק בעברית של שירות הזרמת המוסיקה הוצגה המפה ללא גבולות 1967. לאחר מחאות הגולשים הפוסט, וגם הסרטון, הוסרו https://t.co/WgsNnQBB7X@OmriBarak pic.twitter.com/OKkEpNRNZ5
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) May 20, 2018
“They don’t know how to draw maps,” one user commented, according to Hadashot.
Another one asked: “The Golan Heights? Judea and Samaria? [Are you] purposely provoking?”
Israel captured the Golan, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza in the 1967 Six Day War. It has annexed East Jerusalem and the Golan and, in 2005, withdrew from the Gaza Strip, which is now ruled by the Hamas Islamist terror group. The Palestinian Authority rules parts of the West Bank, but overall control remains under the Israeli military. The international community doesn’t recognize Israel’s sovereignty over any of these areas.
Spotify seems to have opted to dodge the issue altogether on its app, and has avoided displaying a map of Israel on its “Top 50” page for the country. Other countries’s pages feature a map.
The Times of Israel Community.