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NIAC Calls on Google to Reinstate Accurate Title for Persian Gulf
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) calls on Google to immediately reinstate the name "Persian Gulf" in its Google Maps application and to ensure all of its informational products include the historically accurate, internationally recognized, and politically neutral title for the Persian Gulf.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jamal Abdi
Phone: 202-386-6325
Email: [email protected]
Washington, DC – The National Iranian American
Council (NIAC) calls on Google to immediately reinstate the name
“Persian Gulf” in its Google Maps application and to ensure all of its
informational products include the historically
accurate, internationally recognized, and politically neutral title
for the Persian Gulf.
“Google is not sidestepping a political controversy here,
they are helping create one,” said NIAC President Trita Parsi. “By removing
the internationally recognized name of the Persian Gulf, Google
is opening up a debate that serves no purpose but to escalate tensions and help
the region’s unaccountable governments exploit ethnic and political
divisions for their own gain.”
Historically, the name “Persian Gulf” is undisputed, with
even the ancient Greek geographer and astronomer Ptolemy referencing the
“Aquarius Persico.” The legal precedent of the nomenclature is also not in
dispute, with the United Nations and the United States Board of Geographic
Names acknowledging the sole legitimacy of the term “Persian Gulf.”
All six bordering Arab countries have also signed on to United Nations
directives declaring the body of water to be the Persian Gulf.
Google is not the first company to fall prey to
politicization of the Persian Gulf. In
2004, the National Geographic Society mistakenly used “Arabian Gulf” on its
maps, and NIAC worked with the organization to successfully correct the
mistake. But Google’s latest action follows a 2008 controversy in
which the company began including the term “Arabian Gulf” alongside “Persian
Gulf” in its Google Earth application, a move protested by NIAC.
“Willful ignorance on Google’s part is completely
unacceptable,” said Parsi. “By opening the door to political games with
the name of this body of water, Google is abdicating its role as a curator
of information and risks veering into propagandist territory.”
The false debate of “Persian Gulf” versus “Arabian
Gulf” was first created in the 20th century as a tool by colonial and pan-Arab
interests to rally the Arab public against non-Arabs, namely the people of
Iran and Israel. The term was deployed in the propaganda efforts of such
notorious figures including Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. Recently,
the Iranian government and the Persian Gulf states have seized on the
latest controversy as part of escalating tensions in efforts to drum up
nationalist sentiments.
In an open letter to Google CEO Larry Page, the
National Iranian American Council is calling on the company to immediately use
the proper nomenclature in reference to the Persian Gulf in all of its
informational applications. The letter
is open for signatures from the public and will be sent to Mr. Page on Monday,
May 14, 2012.
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Read more at National Iranian American Council
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