Stationery firm Typo withdraws globes that included Palestine over Israel

The design prompted calls for a boycott from supporters of Israel, while its withdrawal led to a similar reaction from pro-Palestinians

(Deema Altaq/Facebook)

A stationery chain has come under fire after it produced globes that named Palestine more prominently than Israel.

The design, in which Israel was among 13 countries to be represented by a number corresponding to a key at the base of the globe, prompted threats of a boycott and accusations of anti-Semitism against the firm, Typo, by supporters of the Jewish state.

Pro-Palestinians are now threatening a similar boycott now the globes have been pulled from the shelves.

Typo, which is Australian, received complaints on its Facebook page on 21 January, with one poster saying it had "wiped Israel from the face of the earth".

The Guardian reported that Typo initially responded to the complaints by saying that the design, a Mercator projection from around 1860, was "an official map from an international body that has been approved for export" and Israel’s label had been omitted "purely because there wasn’t enough space to include the name”.

But two hours later it withdrew the globes from sale, prompting more social media unrest, this time from supporters of the Palestinians.

One pro-Palestinian poster wrote: "BOYCOTTING you typo, while you're at it change the names of other countries that have been stolen from native people."

The firm’s Facebook post said: "We never intended to offend anyone with this product and as a result we have decided to remove them from sale and halt all future production until our supplier can provide artwork that eliminates the need for a key entirely.

"We would also like to ask that any conversations on this page surrounding the globes or political views are voiced in a respectful manner."

On Monday, the firm released a statement saying that it was "not removing any country from the globe" and that it was in the process of sourcing new artwork, the Guardian reported.