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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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Putin Speaks to Trump, Condemns Israel’s Strikes on Iran, Kremlin Says

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian meet in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to US President Donald Trump for 50 minutes on Saturday, condemning the Israeli military operation against Iran and expressing concern about the risks of escalation, the Kremlin said.
“Vladimir Putin condemned Israel’s military operation against Iran and expressed serious concern about a possible escalation of the conflict, which would have unpredictable consequences for the entire situation in the Middle East,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
Trump, for his part, described events in the Middle East as “very alarming,” according to Ushakov. But the two leaders said they do not rule out a return to the negotiating track on Iran’s nuclear program, Ushakov said.
On Ukraine, Putin told the US leader that Russia was ready to continue negotiations with the Ukrainians after June 22, according to state news agency RIA.
Trump reiterated his interest in a speedy resolution to the conflict, the Kremlin aide said.
Putin also congratulated Trump on his 79th birthday.
The post Putin Speaks to Trump, Condemns Israel’s Strikes on Iran, Kremlin Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Sunday’s US-Iran Nuclear Talks Cancelled, Oman Says

FILE PHOTO: Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi attends a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia July 11, 2023. Photo: Natalia Kolesnikova/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
The latest round of US-Iran nuclear talks scheduled for Sunday in Muscat will not take place, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on X on Saturday. Oman has been mediating the talks.
Albusaidi’s statement came a day after Israel launched a sweeping air offensive against Iran, killing commanders and scientists and bombing nuclear sites in a stated bid to stop it building an atomic weapon.
A senior official of US President Donald Trump’s administration, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Sunday’s talks had been cancelled.
Washington, however, remained committed to the negotiations and hoped “the Iranians will come to the table soon,” the official said.
The post Sunday’s US-Iran Nuclear Talks Cancelled, Oman Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Says Talks with US ‘Meaningless’ After Israel Attack, But Yet to Decide on Attending

USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, Sept. 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Iran said the dialogue with the US over Tehran’s nuclear program is “meaningless” after Israel’s biggest-ever military strike against its longstanding enemy, but said it is yet to decide on whether to attend planned talks on Sunday.
“The other side (the US) acted in a way that makes dialogue meaningless. You cannot claim to negotiate and at the same time divide work by allowing the Zionist regime (Israel) to target Iran’s territory,” state media on Saturday quoted foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying.
“It is still unclear what decision we will make on Sunday in this regard,” Baghaei was quoted as saying.
He said Israel “succeeded in influencing” the diplomatic process and the Israeli attack would not have happened without Washington’s permission, accusing Washington of supporting the attack.
Iran earlier accused the US of being complicit in Israel’s attacks, but Washington denied the allegation and told Tehran at the United Nations Security Council that it would be “wise” to negotiate over its nuclear program.
The sixth round of US-Iran nuclear talks was set to be held on Sunday in Muscat, but it was unclear whether it would go ahead after the Israeli strikes.
Iran denies that its uranium enrichment program is for anything other than civilian purposes, rejecting Israeli allegations that it is secretly developing nuclear weapons.
US President Donald Trump told Reuters that he and his team had known the Israeli attacks were coming but they still saw room for an accord.
The post Iran Says Talks with US ‘Meaningless’ After Israel Attack, But Yet to Decide on Attending first appeared on Algemeiner.com.