Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki holds a news conference at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, May 22, 2018. Photo: Reuters / Francois Walschaerts.

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki claimed in a recent interview that Jews controlled the giant tech companies Apple and Google.

Appearing on Palestine TV on July 18, Maliki was asked about a claim that appeared on Instagram – which was later proved to be false — that Apple Maps and Google Maps had removed the name “Palestine” from their apps.

According to a translation provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Maliki said that a petition should be launched, “but this is not enough, as it is clear that these two companies have obvious orientations.”

“It is obvious who owns them, and the Israeli-Jewish influence on them is also obvious,” Maliki asserted. “All this makes them biased towards Israel.”

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is not Jewish or Israeli. Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, is an Indian-American Hindu.

Maliki also indicated that the PA believed the false Instagram story, as he claimed it would take legal action against Apple and Google.

“We are exploring the legal aspect of this issue,” he said. “We have asked the international legal experts who are working with us to give us the necessary guidance regarding the international legal bodies that we can turn to in order to file lawsuits against Google and Apple for treating Palestine this way.”

“We hope that we can begin taking such measures in the next few days,” he added.