Jew or not Jew app withdrawn from iTunes
French anti-Racism campaigners force Apple to nix app worldwide
Posted in Media, 24th November 2011 16:15 GMT
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Apple has pulled an app that asked users to judge how Jewish they were after a lawsuit was brought against it in Paris.
The app 'Jew or not Jew' has been taken out of all of Apple's app stores globally, after French anti-racism campaigners complained. Apple took the app out of the French app store on 14 September, out of the European app stores on 18 October and pulled it from worldwide app stores today.
'Jew or not Jew' catalogued Jewish personality traits according to how genetically Jewish users considered themselves to be.
"Listed for you, thousands of Jewish personalities (through their mother), 'half-Jewish' (through their father), or converts," the app's inventor Johann Levy promised potential buyers on the French Apple Store.
Four groups in France, including the French Jewish Students Union and SOS Racisme, protested against the app and brought a lawsuit against Apple. They have now dropped the suit since their demands have been met.
Though Apple have complied with the demands, Apple's lawyer, Catherine Muyl, rebutted the racism charges, the AFP reports. "Where is the anti-Semitism in this case?," Apple's lawyer said during a hearing for the case on 17 November, insisting that "this is not a discrimination case". Muyl added that when Johann Levy conceived his application, he was worried that it would be perceived as too "pro-Jewish". ®
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