Social Media Trends: Peace Activists Create iPhone App For The West Bank

On the back of Peace one Day last month, here's a social media trends news story of how a group of American peace activists called, 'Americans for Peace Now' have created an iPhone and iPad app that downloads and updates a map showing Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. The app called 'Facts on the Ground' shows 'the unfiltered realities that settlements create on the ground of the West Bank' and it will mark each settlement with a small blue house; and by clicking on any one house the app will open a window giving details of when it was established, the number of people who live there and whether they are secular or Orthodox Jewish. The settler 'outposts', which are unauthorised settlements will be marked in red and the line dividing Palestinian and Israeli territory, green. The borders of Jerusalem and the territories' different security zones will also be indicated. The apps has links to news stories and videos about selected settlements and outposts; including a graph showing increases in population. At the moment the app is only available in English, a Hebrew version is being worked on.

Debra DeLee, President of Americans for Peace Now says, "While people are entitled to their opinions on this divisive issue, there is only one set of facts, and our app makes these facts available in unprecedented clarity and detail. One of the things that make this tool so powerful is that it democratises data."

About 300,000 Israelis live in settlements within recognised Palestinian territory on the West Bank, and another 200,000 in those in east Jerusalem, which Israel says it has annexed. Settling territories occupied in wartime is generally regarded as illegal under international law. Under the most likely scenario for any peace deal, the settlements on the West Bank would remain in return for a surrender of equivalent Israeli territory to a Palestinian state. The future of east Jerusalem is hotly debated. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, is currently trying to persuade the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to maintain a freeze on settlement building that is due to expire on Sunday. He says the Palestinian side will be forced to pull out of the current round of peace talks if construction starts again.

The app will update constantly to breaking events such as settlement/outpost construction, outpost removals, or settler violence and will pose a challenge for the Israeli government. It clearly shows how densely the Israelis have settled the West Bank, as there are blue boxes everywhere. One of the issues that over-shadowed the 1990s-era peace process was Israel's continued settlement expansion, which took place out of the international public's view. However, today no one can hide from GoogleEarth, particularly is if data downloads immediately to peoples' phones. Israel for all its technology knowledge and internet savvy doesn't have a great track record of spreading its message through social media and it will find harder to disclaim knowledge of settlement growth an issue in peace negotiations.

Photo Credit: Cyrillelala