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Wikipedia’s Quiet Revolution: How a Coordinated Group of Editors Reshaped the Israeli-Palestinian Narrative
Anti-Israel demonstrators rally amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, outside the White House in Washington, US, Nov. 4, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
In an era dominated by search engines and instant information, Wikipedia holds an outsized influence. For millions of users, it is often the first — and sometimes the only — source of information on global events and historical contexts. Yet, as investigative journalist Ashley Rindsberg revealed in an explosive report, a quiet yet coordinated operation has taken root among the online encyclopedia’s editors, monumentally reshaping the way the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is perceived.
In a conversation with The Algemeiner this week, Rindsberg asserted that the campaign has “actually changed what appears to be the face of not just the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but of the entire justification for Israel’s right to exist and legitimacy, which is the real aim.”
In a detailed exposé published by the American media company Pirate Wires in October, Rindsberg outlined a coalition of approximately 40 Wikipedia editors that has systematically altered thousands of articles to tilt public opinion against Israel. These individuals, acting in concert, have executed around 850,000 edits on nearly 10,000 articles on the conflict, Rindsberg said, subtly shifting the ideological foundation of content related to Israel, the Palestinians, and even broader Middle Eastern geopolitics.
Ideological Subversion at Scale
“What we’ve seen with the Palestine-Israel articles topic area on Wikipedia is a wholesale shift in the ideological underpinning of those articles,” Rindsberg said.
The report cited one prominent example:
These efforts are remarkably successful. Type “Zionism” into Wikipedia’s search box and, aside from the main article on Zionism (and a disambiguation page), the auto-fill returns: “Zionism as settler colonialism,” “Zionism in the Age of the Dictators” (a book by a pro-Palestinian Trotskyite), “Zionism from the Standpoint of its Victims,” and “Racism in Israel.”
This is one of the most intensive, important pieces I’ve reported.
It shows how a powerful group of pro-Palestine Wikipedia editors have hijacked the Israel-Plaestine discourse. But it a template for how radical ideas get milled into the mainstream by the open encyclopedia. https://t.co/0d2EbaCZkf
— Ashley Rindsberg (@AshleyRindsberg) October 24, 2024
The edits in question range from minor tweaks — removing ties between Jewish history and the land of Israel — to major alterations, such as the omission of references to the atrocities committed during the Hamas-led attack across southern Israel last Oct. 7, including, most egregiously, references of rape and other acts of sexual violence.
The group has also reportedly sanitized articles on controversial historical figures, including those with ties to Nazi Germany such as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini, as well as diluting mentions of human rights abuses by the Iranian regime.
In an article on “Jews,” for example, an editor removed the phrase “Land of Israel” from a key sentence on the origin of Jewish people. The article’s short description (that appears on search results) was changed from “Ethnoreligious group and nation from the Levant” to “Ethnoreligious group and cultural community.”
“Though subtle, the implication is significant: unlike nations, ‘cultural communities’ don’t require, or warrant, their own states,” Rindsberg wrote in his report.
The Role of Tech for Palestine
The operation has been bolstered by Tech for Palestine, a pro-Palestinian tech advocacy group. According to Rindsberg’s investigation, the group works in tandem with expert Wikipedia editors to execute coordinated editing campaigns. Editors then work in pairs or trios in a bid to evade detection, Rindsberg said in his report.
Tech for Palestine established a dedicated Wikipedia Collaboration channel designed to streamline their efforts. The initiative involved recruiting volunteers, guiding them through structured orientation sessions, and addressing challenges. The channel’s welcome message highlighted its strategic intent with a pointed question: “Why Wikipedia? It is a widely accessed resource, and its content influences public perception.”
A veteran editor known as Ïvana, whose username prominently features the anti-Israel red triangle often used to identify and target Jews, was appointed as the channel’s resident Wikipedia expert.
The editing group’s influence extends beyond conflict-related articles to include profiles of celebrities, aiming to amplify sympathetic narratives while muting criticisms of terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah.
Millions of readers are impacted. As Wikipedia articles frequently dominate search engine results, especially those of Google, the changes effectively dictate how global audiences understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Millions and millions of people are being fed information that has been essentially produced by a group of 40 pro-Palestine editors acting in a coordinated fashion,” Rindsberg told The Algemeiner.
The ramifications are vast. Wikipedia’s model of open, community-driven editing is predicated on the assumption of good faith. By altering historical narratives and omitting key details, they are not merely influencing opinion but actively reshaping reality for an unwitting global audience, and in this case, Rindsberg said, “completely altering the way the world sees the conflict as well as the region.”
After Rindsberg’s report was published, Ïvana was “summoned” — in her words — by Wikipedia’s Arbitration Committee and is reportedly facing a potential lifetime ban from the platform. Rindsberg told The Algemeiner that other investigations have also been launched as a result of the article.
The exposé was published weeks after Wikipedia editors decided that the article “Allegations of genocide in the 2023 Israeli attack on Gaza” should be renamed “Gaza genocide,” a change that appears to outwardly accuse Israel of committing genocide in the Palestinian enclave during its military campaign against Hamas terrorists.
In June, 43 Jewish organizations signed a letter sent to the Wikimedia Foundation lambasting Wikipedia’s conclusion that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is not a credible source for information about antisemitism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The post Wikipedia’s Quiet Revolution: How a Coordinated Group of Editors Reshaped the Israeli-Palestinian Narrative first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Boston University Has Stood Up to Antisemitism, But It Must Do More
Boston University College of Arts and Sciences. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
Boston University (BU)’s Board of Trustees showed moral courage on February 11, when it rejected two petitions calling for BU to divest from the State of Israel. In doing so, the Board refused to bow down to the demands of those who seek to end the existence of the world’s only Jewish state.
“The endowment is no longer the vehicle for political debate,” BU President Melissa L. Gilliam declared. BU must now remain firm against the demagogic pressure of the pro-Hamas groups that continue to push the genocidal goal of destroying Israel.
Earlier this month, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which openly praises Hamas and championed the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, ran a sham referendum at BU calling for the divestment of university funds from Israel.
BU’s SJP chapter created the referendum internally and had the Young Democratic Socialists of America administer the vote. The referendum made a mockery of the student government process by not requiring voters to use their BU emails, effectively permitting off-campus participation, and it also did not prevent voters from voting multiple times. Ultimately, the BU Student Government, known as “StuGov,” announced the “nullification” of the referendum’s results.
However, the campaign to demonize Israel at BU does not end with this vote. StuGov has already announced that it plans to hold an additional vote. Instead of explicitly mentioning Israel, the referendum says “companies actively complicit in human rights violations in the Middle East.” This edit is a smokescreen to hide their true intentions and the antisemitism that is raging at BU.
On February 19, StuGov posted a link to a referendum on divesting from Israel. Voting commenced immediately and will run through February 26. This time, instead of being hosted under the auspices of radical outside organizations, it has the apparent imprimatur of the students’ elected representatives themselves — even though the Board of Trustees has already rejected the politicization of the endowment.
Divestment campaigns against Israel on campus have the consistent effect of exacerbating antisemitism at universities, according to the Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University. According to one report, antisemitism has surged on college campuses, increasing by 700% from 2022 to 2023.
As a February 3 open letter from BU Hillel rightly pointed out, the school’s student government ignored the internationally accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism by considering the anti-Israel resolution. The IHRA definition includes nine examples of contemporary antisemitism, like “Applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.” Demanding that Israel fail to defend itself after an armed invasion by a terrorist group that massacred 1,200 people, and raped and mutilated civilian women easily meets that standard.
In the run-up to the new referendum, BU SJP touted its anti-Israel posture with the infamous symbol of the inverted red triangle. Nazi Germany originated the symbol to designate political prisoners held in concentration camps. Using that symbol to call for the murder of Jews in 2025 is an offense that cannot go unpunished.
BU’s Board of Trustees has taken the correct stand in removing its endowment from the crossfire of Middle East politics. Now, BU can do even more by ensuring that no further flawed referenda jeopardize the safety and inclusion of the Jewish minority on campus.
BU must continue to champion open dialogue, protect every member of its community, and ensure that its investments reflect principle, not politicization.
Guy Starr is a sophomore studying Accounting and Finance at Boston University. He is the current co-President of Boston University Students for Israel.
The post Boston University Has Stood Up to Antisemitism, But It Must Do More first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Members Suspected of Plotting Attacks Go on Trial in Germany
View of the courtroom as Judge Doris Husch presides over a trial for defendants accused of acting as foreign operatives for the Hamas terrorist group in Europe, in Berlin, Germany, Feb. 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
Four Hamas members suspected of plotting attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe went on trial in Berlin on Tuesday, in what prosecutors described as the first court case against terrorists of the Islamist group in Germany.
The Hamas members were detained in late 2023 on suspicion of planning attacks, German prosecutors said at the time.
“For the first time in Germany, suspects are facing charges of having participated as members of the foreign terrorist organization Hamas,” prosecutor Jochen Weingarten told Reuters.
He added the defendants were accused of seeking to locate a secret weapons depot in Poland for possible attacks, while receiving orders from the deputy commander of the Qassam Brigades in Lebanon.
According to previous statements by prosecutors, the defendants are also accused of operating other weapons caches in Europe.
The post Hamas Members Suspected of Plotting Attacks Go on Trial in Germany first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Looks to Extend Phase One of Gaza Truce as Long-Term Deal Proves Elusive
Israeli military jeeps maneuver in Gaza, amid a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, Feb. 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israel is considering an extension of the 42-day truce in Gaza as it seeks to bring home the remaining 63 hostages, while putting off agreement on the future of the enclave for now, Israeli officials said.
The initial phase of the ceasefire deal, launched with the backing of the United States and the help of Egyptian and Qatari mediators on Jan. 19, is due to end on Saturday and it remains unclear what will follow.
“We are being very cautious,” Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel told reporters in Jerusalem, when asked whether the truce might be extended without the start of talks on a second phase which would include difficult issues such as a final end to the war and the future governance of Gaza.
“There wasn’t a particular agreement on that, but it might be a possibility,” she said. “We didn’t close the option of continuing the current ceasefire, but in return for our hostages, and they have to be returned safely.”
If no agreement is reached by Friday, officials expect either a return to fighting or a freeze in the current situation in which the truce would continue but hostages would not return and Israel may block the entry of aid into Gaza.
Two officials who have been involved in the ceasefire process told Reuters that Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas have not engaged in negotiations to finalize an agreement over phase two of the ceasefire which will have to bridge wide gaps between the two sides to be concluded.
“I think it’s unrealistic to see something like that forming within a few days,” Haskel said. “This is something that needs to be discussed in depth. This is going to take time.”
The deal, which included the release of 33 Israeli hostages in return for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Israeli jails and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from some of their positions in Gaza, has survived numerous hiccups.
So far, 29 Israeli hostages – plus five Thais – have been released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, with the bodies of four more hostages, initially due to be handed over on Thursday, still to come.
There is now a standoff over the release of more than 600 Palestinians, which Israel has delayed, accusing Hamas of breaching the agreement by making a public show of the handover of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Hamas official Basem Naim said progress could not be made while the prisoners were still being held but that Hamas was committed to a permanent ceasefire and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Haskel said she hoped a solution would be found to secure the handover of the final four in the next few days.
WITKOFF DUE IN ISRAEL
Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy, is expected in Israel on Wednesday to continue discussions on the second stage, opening the way to a final end to the war in Gaza.
Negotiations over the second phase, intended to secure the release of the remaining hostages and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, had been meant to start this month, 16 days after the start of the truce.
Qatar’s prime minister flew to Florida on Feb. 6 and met Witkoff to discuss the “full implementation” of phase one and “to kick-start negotiations for the second phase,” according to an official briefed on the talks.
But officials in the ceasefire process say that so far none of the principal negotiators have met face to face since the first phase was agreed last month and there is little clarity on options for the “day after.”
“This is the day after Gaza, after the war in Gaza and what’s going to happen there, and so we are continuing that channel with the Americans,” Haskel said.
The fighting in Gaza was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in which Israel said about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken as hostages back to Gaza.
Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
Israel has said Hamas cannot have any role in the future running of Gaza and has rejected a role for the Palestinian Authority.
Hamas has said it will not necessarily demand that it remain in charge of the enclave, which it has governed since 2007, but that it must be consulted.
Arab states, which are likely to have to shoulder much of the financial burden of rebuilding devastated Gaza, have been struggling to come up with a proposal of their own but are expected to demand a role for the Palestinian Authority.
Uncertainty increased after Trump proposed moving all the Palestinians out of Gaza to make way for a US waterfront development project, a plan that was endorsed by the Israeli cabinet but rejected by Arab states and Palestinians.
The post Israel Looks to Extend Phase One of Gaza Truce as Long-Term Deal Proves Elusive first appeared on Algemeiner.com.