Palestine: Google has changed the tagline on its Palestinian home page from 'Palestinian territories' to 'Palestine', suggesting its now recognises the disputed region as an independent state.
The move follows the UN decision in November 2012 to upgrade Palestine's status from an 'entity', to a 'non-member observer state'.
As a result anyone logging on to www.google.ps will now see 'Palestine' in Arabic displayed under the main Google logo.
New look: Google has changed the tagline on its Palestinian home page from 'Palestinian territories' to 'Palestine'
Google spokesman Nathan Tyler, said: 'We’re changing the name ‘Palestinian Territories’ to ‘Palestine’ across our products.
'We consult a number of sources and authorities when naming countries. In this case, we are following the lead of the UN, ICANN, ISO and other international organisations.'
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Although the move to upgrade Palestine to a nonmember observer state has changed little on the ground, it carried deep potential significance.
The vote amounted to an international endorsement of the Palestinian position on future border arrangements with Israel and an overwhelming condemnation of Israeli settlements in the areas claimed by the Palestinians.
Delight: Palestinians celebrate the UN decision to upgrade their status from 'entity' to 'non-member observer state' in November last year
Israel also continues to restrict access to Gaza. Israel withdrew seven years ago from the coastal strip, and it is now ruled by Hamas Islamic militants who regularly fire rockets at Israel.
Israel, backed by the U.S., campaigned strongly against the statehood measure, accusing the Palestinians of trying to bypass direct peace negotiations, which it said were the only viable path to a Palestinian state. The Israeli lobbying efforts failed miserably. Just eight other countries voted with Israel, and even its closest allies in Europe, including Germany, Italy, France and Britain, either abstained or voted with the Palestinians.
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