'Anti-Jewish' App Removed From Apple Store in France, Still Available in US

By CP News Briefs, Friday, September 16, 2011

Apple has done away with a controversial anti-Jewish App on its Apple store in France. The company seems to have succumbed to pressure from critics, who feared the App may fuel anti-Semitism.

The controversial App is able to tell iPad or iPhone users if a public personality is a Jew or not.

"The app violates local law and is no longer available in the app store in France”, Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said, according to The Daily Mail.

French laws do not allow the disclosure of a person’s religion or ethnicity without their consent. The laws were put in place after the mass murders and deportations of Jews by the Nazis immediately following World War II.

Some of the groups opposed to the App include CRIF, an umbrella group of Jewish organizations, France's Jewish Student Union, and SOS Racisme, a group that defends the rights of immigrants and minority groups.

The iPhone App which is an innovation of Johann Levy and which was licensed by J Soft this year will continue to be available in the U.S. at a cost of $1.99 and has a specific disclaimer that indicates it is not discriminatory.

"This app is only intended for fun....It simply shows how through hard work many Jews, often from immigrant families, have managed to achieve recognition."

In an interview with French newspaper Le Parisien, Levy said, "I'm not a spokesman for all Jews, but as a Jew myself I know that in our community we often ask whether a such-and-such celebrity is Jewish or not. For me, there's nothing pejorative about saying that someone is Jewish or not. On the contrary, it's about being proud."

According to Wall Street Journal, Richard Prasquier, President of CRI the App can be used by people with ill motives to undermine the integrity of the Jewish people and therefore should be done away with.