Boaz Hepner (@boazhepner.bsky.social)

Political Bias And Double Standards On Wikipedia: Quran Yes, Bible No Experts comment on the politicized editorial standards on Wikipedia during a panel discussion on anti-Semitism and bias on the online encyclopedia, hosted by Boaz Hepner's "Chosen Links" podcast. In this segment, they talk about the "international perspective" of Wikipedia editors in general and the outright activism on the site's Arabic-language version. Jewish Journal investigative reporter Aaron Bandler characterized the type of person most likely to edit Wikipedia, a "weird old internet dude" from Europe with a desk job and Marxist-anarchist tendencies, and the truly international scope of Wikipedia. "It comes down to a numbers game," Bandler said. "These are the kind of people that make up the Wikipedia community, as far as editors go. Once you start seeing it in that light, you understand why Wikipedia reads the way that it does." The Algemeiner contributing editor David Swindle adds: "Wikipedia has an international perspective. Well, what's the international community's perspective on Israel? That's what you're getting." "Everything is allowed in Arabic Wikipedia," Jerusalem Post correspondent Ohad Merlin points out. "On the Arabic version, you can quote from the Quran, not as 'This is what the Quran says as part of a religious narrative,' but rather as the scholarly truth." Host Boaz Hepner followed up by quoting a message from an anonymous friend: "Did you notice the Arabic language Wikipedia has a message in support of Gaza at the top of every single page? I wonder what the reactions would be if the Hebrew language version had an 'Am Yisrael Chai' on the top of every page. It would be 'The Jews control the media, boycott Wikipedia, stop donations.' But if it's on the other side--silence." "The Arabic Wikipedia has the globe logo draped in the Palestinian colors--green, white, red, and black," Jordan Cope added. "I don't recall any aspect of Wikipedia ever changing its colors, regardless of the language or its supposed affiliation to a national people. It's insane bias. And that's all that there is to be said." "I did get an answer from Wikimedia Israel about this issue," Merlin said. "They said, 'Every community in Wikipedia runs independently. The Arab Wikipedia community has decided to exploit the Wikipedia brand resources for inappropriate political use, and we expressed our protest.' But unfortunately, the Wikimedia Foundation refrained from interfering with the Arab community's decision. That's what Wikipedia does." "There is something that is happening with the Wikimedia Foundation that we have to look at, in the way it moves from a nonprofit organization to calling itself a movement," said Dr. Shlomit Aharoni Lir from the University of Haifa "They are spending millions of dollars on these ideological notions and declaring that they are a movement." "So their commitment to neutrality is undermined by these practices. And there's good cause to examine where the money goes," she said. " https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/05/19/quran_yes_bible_no_double_standards_and_political_bias_on_arabic_and_english_wikipedia.html