Want to Track Settlements in the West Bank? There's an App for That

When President Obama took the podium at the U.N. general assembly this week he asked Israel to extend the 2009 moratorium on new settlement building in the occupied West Bank. Want to see whether new settlements do go up? There's an app for that.

Facts on the Ground, made by a group called Americans for Peace Now, is an iPhone application that lets users see all settlement construction since Israel conquered the West Bank, the Golan Heights, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Gaza Strip during the Six-Day War in 1967. The app also lets you turn on and off various geographical overlays and features links to helpful, objective information about the conflicts in the region.

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This is new territory for Apple, which has been reluctant to distribute politically charged apps, and it's encouraging. No matter where you stand on the legality of the settlements, clarity about the facts can only be, er, constructive, right?