opinion Are Wikipedia and other authoritative sites complicit in anti-Israel sentiment?

You might be surprised to discover that Google, Wikipedia, Snopes and other search engines, that claim to be the foremost experts of our day, don’t always get it right. But it’s much worse than that, because their errors are often deliberate, predictably rooted in their biases and political agendas.

So, who are you supposed to believe, and how can you be assured that the information which you are seeking is reliable and factual? For one thing, if what you’re being fed doesn’t sound reasonable or logical, keep searching, but slightly alter your question to come up with different results.

For example, while recently researching for an article, I came across an extremely one-sided Wikipedia post, clearly displaying a Palestinian narrative. Because of my extensive reading into the subject, as well as what I personally know as a result of having lived in the Middle East for over 30 years, I knew it was wrong. But what about others who don’t have that background?

According to a recent article entitled, “ADL: Wikipedia distortions on Israel persist,” “Uncorrected past biased edits remain embedded across Wikipedia’s most-read pages concerning Israel, Zionism, Hamas and Jewish history.”

Obviously, this is disturbing, because when history is rewritten or distorted, in order to reconstruct a preferred propagandized narrative, it profoundly colors the impression of the reader.

If someone were to wholly rely upon a source that they believe to be authentic and trustworthy, they might end their search with faulty conclusions, put forth for the purpose of swaying individuals to believe a lie.

That is why it is so important to check several sources, especially when the subject is super-charged, such as Israel. That is because the information given comes from people who are not always forthright in presenting the actual truth.

For example, Snopes, once touted to be the final word on whether something was real or fake, has had to be fact-checked themselves for not providing reliable information.

Discredited for such subjects as Covid-19, content from the Babylon Bee site and even for plagiarizing, they have undermined their own credibility.

In fact, “the co-founder and CEO of the fact-checking site Snopes.com acknowledged plagiarizing from dozens of articles done by mainstream news outlets over several years, calling the appropriations “serious lapses in judgment.”

Wikipedia, likewise, is not without its controversies.

“Wikipedia has made high-profile errors through false biographical hoaxes, persistent misinformation, and systemic biases, though its open-editing model generally allows active volunteers to fix basic vandalism quickly.”

Some of those include the addition of false information posted by a Wikipedia editor, an erroneous biography concerning the Kennedy family, publishing the death of figures who were still very much alive, and perpetuating the highly respected profile of an imposter, just to name a few.

While all that is worrisome, it is nothing when compared with information about the hot topic of Israel, a country that has been accused of some of the worst and most inhumane crimes against humanity.

At a time when the Jewish state is being blamed for a genocide of its southern neighbors, there is a greater responsibility and burden to accurately tell the truth, in an effort to put out the raging flames against a state which not only seeks to provide massive amounts of humanitarian aid to the Gazan people, but who routinely provides assistance to devastated countries throughout the globe.

Regrettably, much damage was done following the October 7 massacre. According to the ADL article, Wikipedia content “heavily rewrote and managed the content on October 7 sexual violence, accounting for 832 out of 9,576 total revisions.”

Of course, these edits influenced anyone who sought to know the truth about what went on during the barbaric attacks of Hamas terrorists, who had no second-thoughts about raping and violating both women and men as they carried out the unthinkable.

But it’s not only misinformation, when it comes to the worst attack perpetrated on Israeli soil. It has also been the rewriting of Jewish history as a whole, often involving the ownership of the land as well as the treatment of non-Jews in Israel.

One Facebook post says,

“Wikipedia does not directly write or intentionally provide misinformation, but its open-source, decentralized editing model makes it a frequent target for coordinated campaigns seeking to alter historical and political narratives. Because Wikipedia relies on volunteer editors, articles covering highly sensitive topics—such as the State of Israel, Jewish history, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—frequently become digital battlefields where groups try to push specific political agendas.”

And while the word, “intentionally” is supposed to offer a mea culpa, it cannot, in any way, excuse biased agendas, whose goal is to make the reader believe that what they are reading is a well-vetted version of the facts.

Since the explosion of social media, producing massive amounts of content, it is vital, more than ever, to responsibly put out the truth, even when that truth doesn’t comport with one’s wish of what they would like to see in print.

When it comes to Israel, reporting lies, exaggerations and half-truths are part of a well-coordinated campaign to harm the Jewish state, which then injures all Jews, especially those who live in other countries.

By false association, they are pronounced guilty of everything from killing people they’ve never laid eyes on – to exemplifying the toxic behavior of which Jews are accused, through the many libels and tropes which are disseminated about them.

When you think about it, that means that these sources of information are complicit in the spread of worldwide antisemitism, but then maybe that’s the goal!

Because the fastest way to smear a people, and their nation, is through the means of the Internet. It guarantees more viewership than newspapers or television combined. It is the ultimate weapon of malicious gossip, accounting for the reason that Israel has become ostracized and isolated, thought of as an immoral nation which must be held with contempt.

As stated by ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, Wikipedia is “the most visited online encyclopedia that claims neutrality, willing to repair its own record.” But what happens when those errors are swept up into the realm of AI, posing as authenticated information and it’s impossible to monitor every single post?

The answer is simple. Israel becomes more hated than ever, courtesy of “the so-called experts!”