Wikipedia’s Biased Photos

By Jack Saltzberg

Not everything anti-Israel in Wikipedia is the written word. Look no further than the Wikipedia article Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Most people have not visited the Palestinian Authority region and gather information only third hand, largely from Wikipedia. That source will lead them to believe—as Palestinian nationalist editors want—that Israelis live like royalty while Palestinians subsist entirely in squalor.

These are photos from the article referenced above [the version from November 23, 2017].

The world sees this under the section "Palestinian refugees":

In a later section entitled “Israeli settlements in the West Bank,” people see this photo...

And in the immediately following section, entitled “Gaza blockade,” this is the photo representing Gaza...

People on Wikipedia won't find this photo of a Palestinian village…

Or this photo of Palestinian businessman Mohamed Abdel-Hadi's house in Ramallah...

The State of Palestine article [as of November 17, 2017] has a total of two photographs. One shows young schoolgirls crossing a street...

The second, under the section Government, shows the Palestinian Legislative Council building in Gaza. This is what the world sees...

It doesn’t take a PR expert to understand how Palestinian nationalists in Wikipedia work to promote the basic lie that their country is under daily siege by Israel. An image of their only governmental building sitting in ruins plants firmly in the viewer’s mind that Palestinians are victims of oppressive Israelis.

Why not show this Palestinian Legislative Council building?

Or the Palestinian President's headquarters?

Or the Palestinian Authority Headquarters?

Subtle, Yet Effectively Deceptive

As explained in The Israel Group article "Palestinian Terrorism Doesn’t Exist in Wikipedia," if you google the words “Palestinian terrorism,” the top search result will most likely be Wikipedia’s “Palestinian political violence” article. Its lead photo is this...

Wikipedia's caption: "Armed Arab volunteers in 1947"

Notice the nuanced and deceptive manipulation. Islamic Palestinians have waged unspeakable terrorism against Jews and Israel for more than 70 years, including the murder of thousands of Jewish men, women, and children through bombings, shootings, and stabbings. Yet, when we began our search for Palestinian terrorism, the first photo showed Arab volunteers from 1947, “fighting the good fight” to protect their homeland from land-grabbing Jews.

Why not show this?

Or this?

Or this, of a child blown up by a Palestinian suicide terrorist?

Instead, this is the first photo one sees in the section entitled 2005-Present...

Wikipedia caption: Grad rocket fired from Gaza hits Southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva and destroys a kindergarten classroom

No people hurt, just a little building damage. In Wikipedia, there is no Palestinian terrorism.

Maps

In virtually no other topic in Wikipedia would a controversial, hotly debated, and factually incorrect map be placed as the main picture for an article. But here it is allowed, as it shows Israel as the bad guy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This Wikipedia commons map—used thousands of times on the Internet—features prominently in many Israeli-Palestinian topic articles, specifically the article, “Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Israel completely withdrew from Gaza in 2007, leaving the land, its people, and its government under self-rule. Yet this map shows Gaza still under Israeli occupation since 1967.

Ramallah

In the Wikipedia article about "Ramallah" [as of November 17, 2017], there are only a few photos. One is a view of Ramallah.

Another is an old Christian cemetery.

One shows a residential neighborhood.

And of course, there’s a photo of the Israeli West Bank barrier (see TIG's article "Israeli Security Fence: Wikipedia's agenda editing").

If Palestinian Arabs are so proud of the thousand-year Palestinian history that they are creating in Wikipedia, why do they not show these photos to the world?

Here are a few that could have been featured [Courtesy of JCPA ]...

The Palestine Trade Tower in Ramallah is claimed to be the tallest building in the Palestinian Authority region.

• The house of Yusuf al-Kifayah in Beitunia.

• Kerish Motor Mall in Beitunia, 3 km west of Ramallah.

• Ethiad, a new district of Ramallah.

• Jawwal cell phone company in el-Bireh, next to Ramallah.

• Palestine Red Crescent building in Ramallah.

• Ramallah Tower.

• Arab Mansion in Ramallah.

• The Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center in Ramallah.

• The Dubai building in Ramallah’s upscale Al-Masyoun neighborhood.

• A villa in Ramallah.

• Bank of Palestine in Ramallah

• Padico House in Ramallah

• ASAL Technologies building in Ramallah.