The city’s status has long been a matter of debate, and only a few countries, including the United States, have recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital since President Trump’s decision in 2017. In contrast, the broader international community, including the United Nations, perceives Jerusalem as de facto divided, and East Jerusalem, which includes the Old City, is considered part of the West Bank, or occupied Palestine.

Apple’s reaction

In response to the issue, Apple said the Palestinian flag emoji suggestion was unintentional and confirmed plans to address the issue in a future update.

It is worth noting that the failure is not universal and depends on iPhone keyboard settings. For example, Twitter user @DaniRFlynn discovered that the Palestinian flag emoji only appears when typing “Jerusalem” on certain English keyboards, such as British, Singaporean and South African.

This isn’t the first time Apple has been embroiled in geopolitical disputes, particularly regarding emojis.

• In 2019, it removed the Taiwan flag emoji from the iOS keyboard in Hong Kong and Macau.
• Additionally, in 2019, Apple Maps was criticized for marking Crimea as part of Russia, a decision that was reversed in 2022.

Similar problems have arisen on other platforms besides Apple. In October last year, Palestinian Instagram users were faced with an incorrect translation that referred to “Palestinian terrorists” in their bios. Meta, Instagram’s parent company, apologized and promptly resolved the issue.