4 ms·

I work for a multinational company. I have lost count how many times we have received instructions to move Israel from Europe to Middle East, back and forth, ag

by mongol 3y ago

I work for a multinational company. I have lost count how many times we have received instructions to move Israel from Europe to Middle East, back and forth, again and again, in the list if countries the company have presence in (it is categorized by different regions). Very sensitive apparently, if a company have business in Arab countries also. Would not surprise me if similar reasons are behind this. Another similar topic is how to label Taiwan. If you write a heading "Choose country" and then a list that includes both China and Taiwan, you will get a P1 incident on your hands. You need to write something different than country.

deepsun 3y ago
I believe many companies solve that by presenting different lists for different users/locales. More engineering effort and hard to get right, if ever, of course.
chungy 3y ago
Is it really contentious that Israel is in the middle east? When the issue of whether Turkey is in Europe or the middle east is contentious enough, I'd think Israel would be a no-brainer "of course it's middle east" It'd be like debating whether Saudi Arabia is in Africa to me.
- mongol 3y ago
  I think it is not contentious as a general fact. But I think it had to do with it appearing in a sublist, where all other countries were hostile. I don't recall on which country manager's order the different requirements came either. My impression was that it had less to do with geographical location and more that they could not stand to be listed next to each other.
FirmwareBurner 3y ago
>I have lost count how many times we have received instructions to move Israel from Europe to Middle East, back and forth Google maps (and I assume other map providers) does the same thing. When you go view disputed territories, the result you'll be seeing depends on the geopolitical stance of the country you're viewing this from.
- nailer 3y ago
  > > I have lost count how many times we have received instructions to move Israel from Europe to Middle East, back and forth > Google maps (and I assume other map providers) does the same thing. Regardless of politics putting Israel in Europe is objectively incorrect. If Israel isn't in the Middle East then Lebanon and Syria aren't either. Iran isn't Arabic and is considered to be middle east, why not Israel?
croes 3y ago
I thought Israel is the only democracy in the middle east, the participation in Eurovision Song Contest, European Football Championship etc. is just because of security concerns. And Taiwan isn't officially a country because they didn't officially declare independence because officially they still claim there is only one China and the true government is in Taiwan.
- victorbjorklund 3y ago
  > And Taiwan isn't officially a country because they didn't officially declare independence because officially they still claim there is only one China and the true government is in Taiwan. That doesnt make any sense. Then you might as well claim mainland china isnt a country either because they didnt decleare independence from the rest of China (taiwan).
  - riffic 3y ago
    This is literally the position of the Republic of China (Taiwan's leadership), they technically believe themselves to be a "government in exile" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_Republic_of_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_Republic_of_Ch... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_in_exile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_in_exile
    - chungy 3y ago
      It's the position of both governments. The People's Republic of China (the communist-run one) claims territory over both the mainland and the island of Taiwan. The Republic of China (“Taiwan”) is basically the pre-communist government and claims territory over both the mainland and the island of Taiwan. The presence of the US military on Taiwan has kept the PRC from curb-stomping Taiwan.
  - nailer 3y ago
    The PRC isn’t a real country as the CCP are tyrants, whereas the leaders in Taiwan are democratically elected and thus have a mandate to rule.

by mongol 3y ago

deepsun 3y ago

I believe many companies solve that by presenting different lists for different users/locales. More engineering effort and hard to get right, if ever, of course.

chungy 3y ago

Is it really contentious that Israel is in the middle east? When the issue of whether Turkey is in Europe or the middle east is contentious enough, I'd think Israel would be a no-brainer "of course it's middle east" It'd be like debating whether Saudi Arabia is in Africa to me.

mongol 3y ago
I think it is not contentious as a general fact. But I think it had to do with it appearing in a sublist, where all other countries were hostile. I don't recall on which country manager's order the different requirements came either. My impression was that it had less to do with geographical location and more that they could not stand to be listed next to each other.

FirmwareBurner 3y ago

>I have lost count how many times we have received instructions to move Israel from Europe to Middle East, back and forth Google maps (and I assume other map providers) does the same thing. When you go view disputed territories, the result you'll be seeing depends on the geopolitical stance of the country you're viewing this from.

nailer 3y ago
> > I have lost count how many times we have received instructions to move Israel from Europe to Middle East, back and forth > Google maps (and I assume other map providers) does the same thing. Regardless of politics putting Israel in Europe is objectively incorrect. If Israel isn't in the Middle East then Lebanon and Syria aren't either. Iran isn't Arabic and is considered to be middle east, why not Israel?

croes 3y ago

I thought Israel is the only democracy in the middle east, the participation in Eurovision Song Contest, European Football Championship etc. is just because of security concerns. And Taiwan isn't officially a country because they didn't officially declare independence because officially they still claim there is only one China and the true government is in Taiwan.

victorbjorklund 3y ago
> And Taiwan isn't officially a country because they didn't officially declare independence because officially they still claim there is only one China and the true government is in Taiwan. That doesnt make any sense. Then you might as well claim mainland china isnt a country either because they didnt decleare independence from the rest of China (taiwan).
- riffic 3y ago
  This is literally the position of the Republic of China (Taiwan's leadership), they technically believe themselves to be a "government in exile" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_Republic_of_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_Republic_of_Ch... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_in_exile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_in_exile
  - chungy 3y ago
    It's the position of both governments. The People's Republic of China (the communist-run one) claims territory over both the mainland and the island of Taiwan. The Republic of China (“Taiwan”) is basically the pre-communist government and claims territory over both the mainland and the island of Taiwan. The presence of the US military on Taiwan has kept the PRC from curb-stomping Taiwan.
- nailer 3y ago
  The PRC isn’t a real country as the CCP are tyrants, whereas the leaders in Taiwan are democratically elected and thus have a mandate to rule.