Snapchat, a nifty app where pictures can be sent to recipients and conveniently destroyed seconds after being opened.

A new feature of the app is the showcasing of a particular city’s highlights. With its live story feature, Snapchat gives users insight into the daily happenings of users in a selected number of cities worldwide. The curated photos turn into a video-collage of chosen snaps – available for viewing for a period of 24 hours by upwards of 100 million Snapchat users.

However, the decision to stream Tel Aviv’s story on 7th July sparked a backlash after it was accused that Israel’s occupation of Palestine was glorified rather than condemned. Especially since the story coincided with the year anniversary of the attack on Palestinian province of Gaza.

Influential Muslim activists such as Mohammed Zeyara commented on Twitter, “Shame on you @Snapchat for releasing the Tel Aviv story on the same day as the first anniversary of the Gaza massacre committed by Israel”

The story included videos of the port of Tel Aviv with singers perfoming. A parody of the live story was released under the same hashtag, #TelAvivLive with pictures of the assault in Gaza labelled as #51DaysOfSlaughter.

Snapchat responded by promoting a West Bank version of the story despite support from various members of society labelling the condemnation as anti-Semitic.

Twitter user @racheux argued “So many people are outraged by the #TelAviv snapchat [sic] story, not all Israelis are accountable for the actions of Zionists and the IDF. No?”

Debate still stands on whether Snapchat’s decision to stream the West Bank is tactful or a back pedal to a disastrous corporate mistake.