Published by the Washington Examiner on 9/19/24 Wikipedia has come under fire after replacing its entry on Zionism, the idea that Jewish people have a right to self-determination and statehood in their ancestral homeland of Israel, with a “wildly inaccurate” description that characterizes Zionists as “coloniz[ers].” The new entry also questions whether Ashkenazi Jews are actually Jewish, despite the fact that the group historically originates from the Israelites and Hebrews of ancient Israel and Judah. “Unfortunately, our concerns about antisemitism, bias, & misinformation on Wikipedia were well founded,” the Anti-Defamation League posted on X. “Their new definition of Zionism is historically inaccurate, derogatory & erases or misconstrues the experiences of millions of Jews, including Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, Sephardic, African and others.” The ADL additionally put out a call to action for people to urge Wikipedia to correct the “wildly inaccurate” and “dangerous” misinformation in its entry and to provide an accurate entry on Zionism. After Wikipedia faced backlash for its descriptions of Zionism and Ashkenazim, some people pointed out that the website turned off the ability for anyone to edit its entry on Zionism. Instead, Wikipedia is only allowing users whose accounts are at least 30 days old and have at least 500 entry edits to their name to edit the post. ‘History is being rewritten’ The current Wikipedia entry for Zionism states that it is “an ethno-cultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century and aimed for the establishment of a Jewish state through the colonization of a land outside of Europe” that “eventually” decided to establish a Jewish state “in Palestine with as much land, as many Jews, and as few Palestinian Arabs as possible.” The previous entry for Zionism described the ideology as “the national movement of the Jewish people that supports the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in the territory defined as the historic Land of Israel.” The new entry claims that “the origins of Ashkenazi Jews were not known.” It cites a source that claims, “The Ashkenazi Jew is the most dubious Jew, the Jew whose historical and genealogical roots … are most difficult to see and perhaps thus to believe.” The entry also cites another source that claims that “the initial origins of the Ashkenazi Jews who began the Zionist movement in turn-of-the-century Europe remain highly debated and enigmatic.” Tel Aviv Institute senior fellow Hen Mazzig criticized the entry as being “downright antisemitic” for promoting Khazar theory, “the dangerous lie that Ashkenazi Jews are converts and not descendants of the Jews exiled from the Land of Israel. This theory is often weaponized to call Israelis ‘colonizers’ and thus dehumanize us.” “In fact,” he continued, “Jewish history of repeated exile and migration from Israel to Europe is incredibly well-documented, as are genetic studies linking our people to the Middle East. Any balanced article discussing Jewish genetics and Israel would mention that.” Progressive activist and former Democratic candidate for Congress Brianna Wu responded to a post sounding the alarm on how Zionist “history is being rewritten” by Wikipedia. Wu called the revision “disgusting” and said, “It throws Wikipedia’s entire project of neutrality and accuracy into question.” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) chimed in on X, slamming Wikipedia for its “warped telling of history,” which counts “Israeli Jews from the Middle East and North Africa, as well as from Ethiopia” among the “European colonizers.” “Here’s the actual history,” Torres clarified. “Before the State of Israel, there was the British empire. The end of British colonization is not colonization. It is decolonization.” Connections between anti-Zionism and antisemitism Studies from the United States and the United Kingdom have shown that the majority of Jewish people support Israel’s existence or feel that Israel is part of their Jewish identity.That is not to say all Jews identify as Zionists — organizations such as Jewish Voices for Peace and the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network represent a minority of Jews who “oppose Zionism and the state of Israel.” Numerous experts have highlighted the connections between anti-Zionism and antisemitism, including Brandeis Center founder Kenneth Marcus. Marcus, who served as assistant U.S. secretary of education for civil rights in the Trump administration, told the Washington Examiner that historical anti-Zionism consisted of Jews who opposed the establishment of a Jewish state due to “certain ultraorthodox Jewish messianic views or based on other historical considerations that simply aren’t applicable today.” A doctrine that was held by the original anti-Zionist Jews and is still held by some today is that the establishment of a Jewish state is supposed to happen at the coming of the Jewish messiah. They believe it must be divinely ordained, not done by humans. Modern non-Jewish anti-Zionism, Marcus explained, derives from “historical antisemitic movements as opposed to other forms of anti-Zionism,” such as ultraorthodox Jewish anti-Zionism, “that have nothing to do with antisemitism.” As a result, he said, “21st-century anti-Zionism,” such as the ideas espoused on Wikipedia’s revised entry about Zionism, “is essentially antisemitism.” Marcus previously argued academia has fueled antisemitism on campus through “knee-jerk anti-Zionism” and conduct that “crosses the line from political opinion into antisemitism and becomes a form of hate or bias” that “poisons the environment.” Miriam Elman, director of the Academic Engagement Network, has sounded the alarm about the rise of “harassment, isolation, and ostracism of Jewish Zionist students on campus” from faculty and student groups. AMCHA Initiative co-founder Tammi Benjamin has argued that faculty plays “a pivotal role” in facilitating antisemitism on campus through anti-Israel activity, and without faculty involvement, “much of what’s happening simply would not be happening.” Where anti-Israel demonstrations pop up around the country, reports of antisemitism have followed. Such conduct has prompted hundreds of Title VI lawsuits and complaints and is the subject of dozens of Department of Education Office for Civil Rights investigations into universities and school districts around the country. “Make no mistake, there is no nuance between anti-Zionism and antisemitism,” Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) previously told the Washington Examiner. “It’s the same old hate, reinvented for the purpose of ostracizing and relegating the Jewish community.”