"Welcome to Palestine": A visitor to Yad Vashem received an infuriating message from his cellphone company
A Canadian tourist visiting Yad Vashem in Jerusalem received a roaming message from his cellphone provider, Bell Canada, that began with the words "Welcome to Palestine," as reported by the National Post. The company stated that it is an automatic message based on data from an external provider, and that the proximity of antennas in the area may cause travelers in Israel to receive alerts about roaming in the Palestinian territories.
A Canadian tourist visiting Israel received a roaming message from his cellphone provider, Bell Canada, that began with the words "Welcome to Palestine" while he was at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. The Canadian newspaper National Post reported this overnight Thursday-Friday, as cited by "Hayom." The individual, a resident of Ottawa who arrived in Israel last week, asked to be identified only by his first name, Charles, out of concern for his safety amid rising antisemitism. He said the message appeared on his phone while he was visiting the museum and included information about his roaming package. Charles described feeling nauseated by the timing, stating that he was standing at a place displaying the results of the Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jewish people, and at that moment received a message from a Canadian company that, in his view, expressed the erasure of Israel. He felt there is a "coordinated effort" in the world to erase Israel. "To tell me, a Canadian citizen and long-time customer, 'Welcome to Palestine,' in my eyes this is a political statement, and it is inappropriate," he told the newspaper. Bell Canada responded to the National Post that welcome messages for roaming services are sent automatically when a device connects to a cellular network antenna in a new area. The company claimed that the proximity of antennas in the area may cause customers arriving in Israel or traveling nearby to sometimes receive messages about roaming in the Palestinian territories. It further stated that its roaming message system is automatically activated through a platform of an external provider, and that place names are pulled from an independent international database used by the industry, and the company itself does not determine the wording.