Weaponizing Wikipedia: Hamas-linked group trains young Palestinians in Gaza to edit pages

Twelve young men and women from Gaza are reportedly being trained to edit Wikipedia pages and disseminate the facts about the conflict with Israel from their perspective.

The Geneva-based NGO, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med), which has been linked with Hamas according to The Jerusalem Post, announced the launch of the third round of their “WikiRights” project in the Gaza Strip, which trains cohorts of young Gazan residents to shape what appears on the pages of the crowd-sourced encyclopedia.

The organization states that they provide in-depth training in human rights research and documentation, as well as training in professional editing on Wikipedia in order to “enrich” it. 

The “WikiRights” project was first launched in 2015 with the stated aim to “train human rights defenders to use the encyclopedia and to modify its articles.” The third cohort is now being trained, according to the announcement made last Thursday.

“The training covers creating, developing, and updating content, and involves using editing and contribution tools in both Arabic and English,” Euro-Med explains on its website, saying it will not only create content but also interview victims and witnesses to document their stories.

The goal of the project is both to support and equip young people in Gaza, providing them with valuable skills, and to present Palestinian perspectives on the conflict with Israel to “improve worldwide access to accurate, current information.”

Euro-Med stated that the project will address ”knowledge gaps concerning human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory” with reliable content based on international documentation standards, and also furnish a young generation with digital influence tools, “empowering them to protect the human rights narrative from marginalisation or distortion on open knowledge platforms.”

Anas Jerjawi, chief operations officer at Euro-Med, stated, “At a time when online platforms often disseminate false information about victims of armed conflicts, it is crucial for us to empower young people to share accurate facts and document Israeli crimes.”

Mazen Kahel and Ramy Abdu, the current and former board chairs of Euro-Med, both appear on a list of Hamas “main operatives and institutions” in Europe, published by Israel in 2013. In addition, staff has expressed support for Hamas or Hamas figures, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Moreover, the Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor found that Euro-Med has been involved in disseminating blood libels and conspiracy theories about Israel, accusing the Jewish state of “apartheid,” genocide,” “ethnic cleansing,” “collective punishment” and “war crimes.”

Abdu, who founded the organization, has also been involved with organizations that have been linked with Hamas, including the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG) and the Council for European Palestinian Relations (CEPR). In 2020, the Israeli government imposed sanctions on Abdu under its anti-terrorism law.

“Upon completion of the training, participants are expected to take responsibility for adding documentation-based articles to Wikipedia that are rooted in live testimonies. This effort aims to showcase the stories of genocide victims in Gaza and ensure their voices are heard by the international community as part of a historical and human rights record,” Euro-Med asserted, claiming they are transforming the young people of Gaza from “mere statistics into storytellers.”