The Digital Frontier

Weaponizingwikipediaagainst Israel Aish

Elena Vance
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weaponizingwikipediaagainst israel aish

4 min read 5 min read November 11, 2024 5 min read How the global information pipeline is being hijacked by digital jihadists. Wikipedia – the world’s fifth-leading website with 100 billion visits annually – is no longer a bastion of objectivity. Investigative research now reveals how a secret network of anti-Israel activists is engaged in a massive “edit war” to nefariously insert anti-Israel propaganda throughout Wikipedia.

Although Wikipedia professes a strict neutral point of view, its open editing model – where anyone can voluntarily edit articles, often without even a login – makes the system vulnerable to manipulation and abuse. Organized efforts such as “Tech for Palestine” and “Wikipedia Collaboration,” likely funded by Iran, are currently conspiring to hijack Wikipedia.

Working in small rotating groups to evade detection, these activists have made over 850,000 edits to Israel-related articles, demonizing Israel as a “colonial, apartheid, genocidal regime.” Slowly and incrementally, these “minor edits” – often one word or sentence at a time – cumulatively account for the majority of content on key Wikipedia articles, distorting the narrative and turning Wikipedia’s information pipeline into a swamp of anti-Israel bias.

In thousands of Israel-related articles, Wikipedia's core value of “neutrality” is blatantly violated: - The first sentence on Wikipedia's main Zionism page characterizes the Zionist movement, not as the return of the Jewish people to their 3,800-year-old indigenous homeland, but as “the colonization of a land outside of Europe… to create a Jewish state in Palestine with as much land, as many Jews, and as few Palestinian Arabs as possible.” - Wikipedia's main article on Hamas omits mention that Hamas’ 1988 charter calls for jihad and the destruction of Israel.

The article even compares Hamas’ charter to Likud’s party platform. - Wikipedia pages such as “Israeli Apartheid” turn spurious accusations into definitive facts. An article initially titled "Allegations of genocide in the 2023 Israeli attack on Gaza” is now titled definitively: "Gaza Genocide.” - Anti-Israel activists created a dedicated page comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, while erasing the genuine phenomenon of Nazism in Palestinian society and downplaying the Palestinian Mufti's alliance with Hitler.

Wikipedia cites the words of Nadia Abu El Haj, a fringe Columbia professor and staunch anti-Zionist who questions whether Ashkenazi Zionists are even Jewish: "The Ashkenazi Jew is the most dubious Jew, the Jew whose historical and genealogical roots in ancient Palestine are most difficult to see and perhaps thus to believe." Wikipedia’s bias includes silencing mainstream pro-Israel voices.

Wikipedia banned the Anti-Defamation League as an “unreliable source” on anything related to Israel – while rating anti-Israel sources like Al Jazeera and Amnesty International as "reliable.” Exposing this bias is crucial because, as the perceived “gold standard” of objectivity, Wikipedia is a key influencer of information pipelines: - Wikipedia is the default result of routine info requests on Google, Alexa, Siri, etc. - Students, educators, journalists and policy-makers often rely on Wikipedia as the starting point for research.

Wikipedia’s billions of words are a key component of popular AI tools such as ChatGPT. This "unprotected back door" is insidiously exploited by activists who manipulate Wikipedia to spread anti-Israel views as “established fact.” To wit: Candice Owens supported an antisemitic claim that the Star of David is used in child sacrifice and black magic, by saying: “If it’s on Wikipedia...

it’s an irreversible fact.” More blatantly, activists have completely hijacked Wikipedia Arabic where every page – over a million articles – displays the Wikipedia logo wrapped in the Palestinian flag. Additionally, the top of every page features a black banner proclaiming “solidarity with the rights of the Palestinian people” and promoting blood libels against the Jewish people: “No to genocide in Gaza... no to killing civilians… no to targeting hospitals and schools...” Screen capture of Wikipedia Arabic This struggle for the “digital narrative” is not merely a PR contest.

Misinformation about Israel translates into negative sentiments toward Jews and a rise in antisemitism. Indeed, the Nazi genocide was made possible largely by their propaganda campaign to defame the Jews. For Israel, the only country in the world whose right to exist is challenged, Wikipedia’s bias exacerbates that existential threat.

As Diana Buttu, former legal advisor to the PLO, remarked: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is “a battle over language sometimes more than over anything else.” This insidious drip, drip, drip – via thousands and thousands of edits – is difficult to detect and even more difficult to reverse. Yet without taking action to combat it, the bias (and its ramifications) will get incrementally worse. AI models will grow in power and scope, and as long as Wikipedia maintains a reputation for objectivity, it will continue to forge the basic narrative.

On Wikipedia, another drop of history is rewritten every moment. To help reverse this trend: - Use Wikipedia only as a reference point for primary sources. Research the sources and reach your own logical conclusion. - Stay alert and consume information with a critical eye. Identify bias and filter it out. - When you read something that sounds biased, compose your own version of the text in a more fair and balanced way. This is the difference between complaining and constructive criticism. - If you see something amiss, share it.

Make your voice heard. Freedom of information is guaranteed only to those who guard it. By keeping this issue at the forefront, Wikipedia is put on notice that its credibility will not be taken for granted, and that information channels must not operate unchecked and unrestrained. Otherwise, humanity could end up, outmaneuvered and manipulated, victims of this jihadi media war. Like What You Read? Give Jews around the world the chance to experience engaging Jewish wisdom with more articles and videos on Aish.

As a nonprofit organization it's your support that keeps us going. Thanks so much! Explore Learn Resources Next Steps About Donate Languages Subscribe . One more way to fight this: Publicly post it on social media and ask people to share it! Expose the darkness. Trust there are still human beings left in the world that can look at the Jewish Nation against the lies and propaganda being spoon feed to them, and realize there is a huge disconnect.

It is not our job to concern ourselves with any of them. It is their job not to let themselves be deceived, nor to tolerate deceivers in their midsts. Our job is HaShem, Torah, Mitzvot, Prayer, Charity. And being warriors wearing the armor of the Lord. Ignoring the problem does NOT make it go away. It MUST be dealt with proactively or we will be seeing another Holocaust. "colonial, apartheid, genocidal regime.” (their words about Israel) yet they are the ones committing murders, rapes and illegal abductions.

And realistically, Israel is their "test subject" to move onto "the rest of the world." They figure if they can get away with antiSemitism, the rest of the population is primed for their abuses. It isn't going to be pretty if the rest of the world refuses to wake up and do the right thing, and what they know better to do. So much for my teeny-tiny support of Wikipedia! Indeed, the propaganda war is as active, almost as destructive as the physical wars Israel has waged against her enemies.

Time for a change... This response is awfully weak. We need to demand the right to edit and correct articles where they are wrong. The article on Zionism, for example, is locked and only people with very high Wikipedia privileges are allowed to edit it. Where are these people when they are needed? If you see incorrect information, you can just edit it yourself.

No you can't because racist admins like Selfstudfier Acterpen and Yalma will block you even though they are violating wikipedia rules PS to last article on the Hebrew/Yiddish version of wikipedia..write the truth in place of propaganda in the un-jewish wikipedia.articles..let the truth be known! write in the talk section of how a article is untrue....those who read and understand this will not be taken in by propaganda..those who wont...will have to take the consequences of beleiving lies I looked up "Militarism" last week and was shocked!

Outrageous to list Israel. Can a person go in and simply delete it? Stop funding. Wiki screams donate every year. Stop funding. They’ll be forced to figure it out.

The real " Palestimians" are the Jews the others are imposters and Arab Muslims and a fake people and a fake land, Rabbi Meir Kahane( obm) foresaw it and wrote a book" They Must Go" if not they are making up that Israel and Jewish land is theirs, it was written in the prophets that Ishmaels would claim the Jews inheritance of the land of Israel, I hope we don't have to wait for Moshiach to solve the dispute I’ve stopped using Wikipedia completely as soon as I realized their agenda.

I don’t find them honest or accurate. Plenty of other search agents. Yes, but Wiki remains the #1 go-to source for research on the internet by the masses, so we cannot underestimate its influence. Whether we like it or not, what the masses believe DOES matter, because the masses can act on what they believe. They've shown a decided anti-religious bias for years as well..

It never WAS a legitimate source of this info due to the fact that ANYONE can enter ANYTHING -- regardless of whether it is actually true or not. I know from my graduate studies that Wikipedia is not considered an acceptable source to cite...ever. Using it will result in an 'F' for your paper. Is it any surprise, then, that antisemitic postings on there continue to rise? What's REALLY disturbing is how many people continue to rely upon mainstream mass media (MSM) for their information...

never questioning the veracity of what they are reading, but take it at face value as the truth. But not even Wikipedia considers itself a reliable source for many of the reasons stated above, and because articles are assumed to improve over time. There's also a rating system in place where articles are graded based on quality, so it's certainly true that a number of articles do not meet encyclopedic standards.

But one does get the impression that any criticism of Israel will be perceived by some as 'biased' and coming from 'unreliable sources.' Many of the articles cited above are in fact well researched and sourced to credible scholarship. Hello all the best medicine for this hate is to donate to organizations like CAMERA . CAMERA fights antisemetism in media etc.. You alone cannot do much. I wish rightous people would would finally get smart and donate to the right cause. I too donate to W. NEVER AGAIN.

ThAT PHASE SOUNDS SO FAMILAR DON'T YOU THINK. Love to all GA Right CAMERA does a good job at exposing the falsehoods, but that is as far as it can go. It cannot fight hate. No one ever could. It is as old as the human race. We have choices only in how we live with it and deal with it. I hope someone will offer a similar program for Americans. I am a tech idiot, but I would be happy to work on accurate updates.

Probably a waste of time trying to share on FaceBook, they delete every post that informs people as this does; I have had a dozen posts deleted as being against community standards and every one of them has been a news article. The news articles have been omitted by mainstream media in most countries. Facebook is owned by a Jew. So what? He is married to a non-Jew, does not observe the Jewish religion, and has even refrained from blocking hate speech against Jews and Holocaust denial.

This is not exactly on topic but it is a message TO ALL JEWS. Finally there is an article in the New York Times about a Uyghur refugee's struggles. Why should Jews Care. Simple the Uyghur are of the Muslium faith. They are being gemocided by the Chineese goverment. Why are the Arab and Iranian Musliums not complaining about their horrible fate??? Why do Musilum Arabs focus just on Jews when there is a holocust going on by the Chineese governement against their minoriity musliums.

I agree Jews should care about their own people the world didn't care when they murdered/ killed 6 million Jews, the site you are talking about in the article is bias against Jews and Israel, also facebook has a double standard, if you write against Jews and/or Israel it doesn't go against community standards, if write about anti semites anti zionists then it is against community standards and can go into facebook jail, and facebook and other sites were founded by Jews, it makes no sense to me, it is sad how bad the bias is against Jews and Israel, there should be more organations like CAMERA this is not completely true about how its totally out of control.

Only last night I attended Wikipedia 101 Zoom meeting where the editing structure was explained, and how to also ascend the ranks of Wiki pedia editors to trusted user. Contact them to find out more and be in on a Zoom session where you can learn more Wikipedia has been a vehicle for biased information and pernicious slander for years, as any serious would-be contributer can attest.

Even simple historical facts, like the date or place of birth of a subject person, is impossible to correct or else the correction is immediately reversed. I spent an hour writing an article correcting mis-statements about a musical luminary in a previous generation in my family, whom I knew very well, and it was rejected; the misinformation remains to this day. If Wikipedia cannot rid itself of the claque of censors that are making it unuseable, it should be dismantled I agree with this comment 100%!

Perhaps Wikipedia needs to be digitally closed down and made unusable---forcing it to be regenerated in a renaissance manner, when it regains a spirit of objectivity. Some electronic emetic is needed towards marshaling it to a healthier and dependable state---or at least one that is open to free and earnest discussion. Right, how do we do that? It is not only anti-Israel activists who can edit articles on Wikipedia. We can as well. We can challenge their modifications and introduce our own.

THAT is the way to respond to these distortions of reality regarding Israel, or anything else. Right Reddit and YouTube are also flooded with anti Semitic and anti Israeli propaganda The challenge is to name a media source that's not biased! The Australian - daily newspaper is absolutely not biased.

Right, do Jews and Israel have do what they had to do when they couldn't go to hotels in the Catskills and/ or Florida Jews created their own hotels, when Jews couldn't work in publishing or/ and advertising they wrote comic books and it became a Jewish field and comic- con , is actually Jewish based and is popular till today, I think must superheroes and villians are Jewish, so once again make our own sites that are pro Jewish and pro Israel What is going on with all the propaganda, getting paid from Arab oil, having lots of money to spread lies, falsehoods, propaganda against Jews and Israel, it is from the Nazi( may their name be erased) playbook, if anyone knows history about Europe in 1930s/ 1940s You’re just now noticing something that has been going on for years on Wikipedia.

This time it’s Israel, but other political rhetoric has been infused into thousands of supposedly objective Wikipedia articles. It is a smorgasbord of leftist ideologies. When “corrections are made they are quickly undone again. I stopped donating long ago. Wikipedia usually makes a plea for money. Do not donate to Wikipedia until they clean up this mess. I agree with you, and would also like to know how to access the editing tool for Wikipedia so that we Zionists can change things? Does anyone know?

The only one that can do that, is someone that is a computer expert and can be able to get into anything to change the bias stuff See my entry, above. I, too, used to contribute to Wikipedia. Not any more; it needs to be starved into oblivion if it cannot amend its dishonest practices. Why? I thought they got money from rich Arab countries that have oil Documented proof? Our individual donations are tiny specks in comparision with the donations to Wiki from so many millions of biased readers.

Wiki does not care one iota if a few hundred thousand people stop donating for whatever reason, and it will never be "starved into oblivion" that way. Maybe one day some new site will emerge to challenge Wiki's current supremacy, but it's unrealistic to expect that to happen anytime soon. Right I thought they get paid from Arab oil Based on what reliable evidence?

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Misinformation about Israel translates into negative sentiments toward Jews and a rise in antisemitism. Indeed, the Nazi genocide was made possible largely by their propaganda campaign to defame the Jews. For Israel, the only country in the world whose right to exist is challenged, Wikipedia’s bias exacerbates that existential threat.