I saw the question Is there a list of online public transportation planners?. I want to add information for Israel. Should I add it under the common wiki answer for Europe, or in a new answer?
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2I wouldn't count Israel to Europe and therefore either add a new answer for Asia, or edit the current answer and add a new major headline for Asia.– RoflcoptrExceptionJun 20, 2013 at 7:18
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@RoflcoptrException, put it as an answer, so that people will be able to up/down vote it. There are some organizations (like UEFA and Eurovision) that think Israel is in Europe.– SIMELJun 20, 2013 at 8:12
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8I don't think that these organizations think that Israel is in Europe. There are unfortunately other reasons that Israel participates in the UEFA soccer games.– RoflcoptrExceptionJun 20, 2013 at 8:52
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3Israel is not in Europe geographically. Cyprus isn't geographically in Europe either, and Malta is closer to Africa then the European mainland. The geographic distinction of Europe from Asia is an arbitrary distinction. If a distinction would made by cultural, economic and political similarities, Israel would be in Europe. If the distinction is purely geographical then it isn't but so is Cyprus. Put your comment as an answer so that people could express their opinion on whether Israel should be counted as part of Europe in an answer to that question.– SIMELJun 20, 2013 at 9:07
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3Israel is not in Europe. Please put it under Australia instead!– Andrew GrimmJun 20, 2013 at 12:13
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Or Africa. Before setting up the country in Palestine, there was a discussion to found it in Uganda. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Uganda_Programme– user3470Jun 20, 2013 at 16:50
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@MarcelC. and Australia! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberley_Plan!– Andrew GrimmJun 24, 2013 at 6:40
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Interesting. Did not know about that one.– user3470Jun 24, 2013 at 17:12
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Israel probably not “completely” in Europe but it seems just as absurd to put in Asia. It only really make sense from a European perspective (“It's not in Europe, where am I going to put it?”)– RelaxedDec 4, 2013 at 22:57
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Israel IS in Asia. there is nothing absurd about it. Or do you want to reinvent geography?– user3470Dec 8, 2013 at 22:21
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Some people living in Israel have emigrated from Europe. SOme other have ancestors from Europe. But that's also the case fro the USA, Australia, Canada, Brazil etc. Are all these countries in Europe? Or are they not completely in Europe.– user3470Dec 8, 2013 at 22:23
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5 Answers
It's technically an associate state of the European Union, so politically is loosely affiliated, but geographically, it'd be tricky to argue...generally the Bosporous river in Istanbul separates Europe from the rest of the world, and therefore arguably it's not in Europe by that definition...
I agree with @RoflcoptrException that Israel is NOT in Europe. You gave some examples with Malta und Cyprus, but don't forget that they are islands, and Israel is not. They were both British colonies and Greek Cypriots form up to 80% of the Cypriot population.
We can discuss if Cyprus and Malta are part of Europe, but Israel is definitely not.
answered Jun 20, 2013 at 10:46
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Malta an Cyprus are full members of the EU and the Euro Zone. Hence they are in Europe. No need to discuss!– user3470Jun 20, 2013 at 16:52
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-1 from me, you make this a lot more absolute than it really is. Your reasoning regarding Cyprus is also very questionable.– RelaxedDec 4, 2013 at 22:58
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1French Guiana is definitely in Europe. We can discuss if Guyana and Suriname are part of Europe. Dec 6, 2013 at 4:10
Beyond all abstract historical/political/cultural considerations and the general “gut feeling” some Europeans seem to have, I feel Israel (and Turkey!) should be mentioned/linked in the page about Europe. Obviously none of these categories are entirely unproblematic but given a choice between “Europe” and “Asia”, I definitely wouldn't look for it under “Asia”.
Incidentally, many (US) companies have “EMEA” operations (i.e. Europe-Middle East-Africa) that are entirely separate from their Asian branches, which makes a lot of sense to me. Some websites have categories like “Middle East” because the region does not entirely “belong” to either Europe or Asia, this could be a practical solution.
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2You make it sound like "Middle East" is a new term invented by these websites. Dec 6, 2013 at 4:08
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@hippietrail Maybe but anybody with a pulse should be able to figure out that it's not what I mean, right?– RelaxedDec 6, 2013 at 8:23
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I don't know, I read it as you were belittling the term as though it's not a real/used/plausible one. Dec 6, 2013 at 8:34
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OK, it was obviously unclear then, what I mean is that websites that need the sort of comprehensive categorization of countries we are talking about here (which is not necessarily the way these words are used elsewhere) get out of the false Asia/Europe dichotomy by using Middle East. The reason I mention it is that the dominant thinking in the answer and comments seems to be “I don't want it in Europe, hence it's in Asia”.– RelaxedDec 6, 2013 at 9:44
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Generally, I think that looking at other websites is the best thing to do as it would tell us where people are likely to be looking for this information (both because other people tried to figure this out when designing the website and because users form habits based on informal standards on the web).– RelaxedDec 6, 2013 at 9:47
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1When I'm hitchhiking across it it's all just one big Eurasia to me! Dec 6, 2013 at 10:06
After reviewing the diffrent answers and comments I've decided that the best course of action is to open a new answer titled "The Middle East" where Israel belongs.
This, in my view, is the best course of action as it suppurates Israel from Europe, and from the far east.
Hopefully that with time information for other countries from the Middle East will be added there as well.
*-This answer comes because even though I posted the answer (on the main site question) almost half a year ago, comments and answers on this meta question keep appearing.
Israel takes part in Eurovision, so is Europe by that definition...
If it were me, I'd probably put it in the Europe section for now, but be ready to move it as and when we get entries for the likes of Turkey, and other countries from that part of the world.
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1Eurovision is organised by European Broadcasting Union. Morocco and Egypt are their members, so they are part of Europe?!?! This cannot be a reason to count Israel to Europe! Jun 20, 2013 at 12:22
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1Well to be the devils advocate, under the ottoman empire, roman empire,greek and more recently the germans and french empires morroco, egypt, were part of europe. Ad much of spain was part of morrroco some centuries ago– user141Dec 13, 2013 at 0:46