New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) is calling on Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to take immediate action on what he calls Facebook’s “shameful” exclusion of Israel. Hikind says that, when creating a background profile on Facebook, users are given 50 country flag options. These options, he claims, include Palestine, while Israel is conspicuously absent.
“Palestine is not even a country,” said Hikind. “How did it end up as an option? Well, we all know the answer to that. I suspect some racist programmer was able to slip that by while purposefully excluding Israel as an option. That’s insulting and Facebook should be held accountable."
“Mark Zuckerberg has been quoted as saying, ‘As a Jew, my parents taught me that we must stand up against attacks on all communities.’ I am calling on Mr. Zuckerberg to get to the bottom of this attack on Jews and Israelis. The exclusion of Israel from Facebook, a publicly traded company, while Palestine is included is no accident—it’s a purposeful, racist insult that must be addressed immediately.”
Hikind also asked Facebook users to utilize the “report a problem” feature on the Facebook Help menu to enlighten Facebook of the alleged issue.