Persistence paid off and Google Earth agreed to take down a notation erroneously describing the Israeli town of Kiryat Yam as Arab Ghawarina.
The posting by Thareen Darby (more on him here) prompted legal action by the Israeli municipality last year. The Cuban Revolution explains that Google backed down after an exchange of correspondence with the Zionist Organization of America:
Google agreed to remove the offending layer and historical notation. If you now input the town of Ghawarina into Google Earth you will be taken to the layer of “Not Arab Ghawarina”. The flag notation now reads:
“The 1880 Palestine Exploration Fund map designates a region by this name east of Acre. This area is populated with Israeli Arabs. The map does not have any towns here.“
Here are the before and after notations featured:
Moral of the story: People taking action can move heaven and Google Earth.
Related reading: Google Earth: A New Platform for Propaganda
