Wikipedia sparks firestorm after labeling Israel’s Gaza war a ‘genocide’

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales recently blasted the “Gaza genocide” entry for asserting “in Wikipedia’s voice” a claim he called “highly contested.”

By Shmuli Volkin, Jewish Breaking News

Wikipedia’s main “Israel” entry now declares that “following the October 7 attacks… Israel began committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” placing a blatant lie in the lead section meant for basic, non-contentious context.

The phrasing appears to have been inserted in a mid-December edit marked “per RfC,” and it has stayed up since—even as the dispute spills across the talk page.

Wikipedia’s own archived RfC summary on the Israel talk page effectively green-lights mentioning “genocide” in Wikipedia voice while arguing over how it should be framed and contextualized.

This fight is part of a wider credibility crisis: Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales recently blasted the “Gaza genocide” entry for asserting “in Wikipedia’s voice” a claim he called “highly contested,” urging editors to “attribute, don’t assert”—not launder legal conclusions as settled fact.

Israel has repeatedly rejected genocide accusations, saying it is fighting Hamas terrorists embedded in civilian areas and pointing to evacuation warnings and other steps it says are meant to reduce civilian harm.

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