Computer giant Apple has authorized an application called "The Third Palestinian Intifada," which updates users on upcoming protests, features articles critical of Israel and pictures of martyrs, Army Radio reported Tuesday.

The Arabic-language application, developed by a Dubai-based company and called "thidintifada," was released on June 15, and was still available Wednesday for free download from iTunes. The application updates users on upcoming protests, and highlights articles critical of Israel.

Open gallery view Always room for another app. Credit: Reuters

Yuli Edelstein, Minister of Public Affairs and the Diaspora, who recently successfully lobbied to remove a Facebook page of the same name, sent a letter to Apple founder Steve Jobs called on Apple to carry out the "immediate removal" of the application, "and thus continue the tradition of Apple applications dedicated to purely entertainment and informative purposes and not serve as an instrument for incitement to violence."

"From browsing through the articles, stories and photographs that appear in the app, it is clear that this is an anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist application that in fact, as its name suggests, calls for an uprising against Israel," Edelstein wrote.

Edelstein went on to describe the Facebook page that he said was created by the same group behind the new application. "The Facebook page called for an uprising against Israel through a violent struggle, and included severe incitement."

Gal Ilan, a spokesman for the Public Affairs Ministry which sent the letter Tuesday, said Wednesday that the ministry believed the letter would have the desired effect.

Facebook confirmed last March it removed the "Third Intifada" page. The company's European and Middle Eastern policy director wrote Edelstein that it was Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg who asked him to take down the page.

Edelstein lobbied successfully three months ago to get Facebook to remove a page calling for a violent uprising against Israel.