The Palestinian flag is likely to be among the national symbols included as part of the emoji line-up of Apple’s new iOS 9 operating system, Israel’s NRG reported on Wednesday.
The version of the upcoming iOS 9 referenced by the report is still in development stage, and is expected to undergo a number of changes before it is released to the general public.
However, if no changes are made to the emojis featured in the new operating system, the Palestinian flag will remain available to iPhone users internationally.
Between now and iOS 9’s official release, Apple is expected to release at least seven iterations of the operating system, each of which will include additional changes.
The expected inclusion of the flag will not be the first time that Apple has found itself in the midst of a controversy related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2012, as part of an upgrade to Apple’s software, Jerusalem was not displayed as the capital of Israel. The omission led to an Israeli uproar against the company, eventually prompting Apple to reverse its decision.”
