Figure 14 – Before & After: Edits to ‘Mujahideen Brigades’ page on Wikipedia

Wikipedia does not clearly identify terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah as such, and instead seemingly legitimizes their actions through the so-called more neutral term “militant groups,” and sometimes, not even that. The 2024 version of the article on the Mujahideen Brigades refers to them as a “militant group” in the opening paragraph. In contrast, the 2025 opening describes this deadly organization merely as a Palestinian “movement,” obscuring its violent nature. 

In the third and fourth paragraphs of the 2024 version, under the title “Activity,” the the organization’s destructive intentions and violent acts aimed at Israel are described:

The Mujahideen Brigades’ primary role is engaging in armed guerrilla warfare against Israel…. They conduct military training and maneuvers in the Gaza Strip. These drills and training are aimed at enhancing their fighters’ combat skills and simulating offensive operations against Israeli targets.

The Mujahideen Brigades’ claimed responsibility for rocket fire against Israel and operated in cooperation with Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s and al-Quds Brigades in the past. 

In contrast, the 2025 version only implicitly references the Mujahideen Brigades’ violent actions, framing them within the organization’s ideological context under the heading “Political and Militant Wings,” and describing the group merely as “one of the most prominent Islamic factions of the Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”

While the next section in the 2024 version addresses the sanctions against the organization, stating that it is “on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List”and that “they’re being restricted on certain exports, reexports, or transfers of items,” this information appears only toward the end of the 2025 version, before the focus shifts to the organization’s history.

The concealment of essential facts by placing them later in the article rather than in the opening paragraphs, which receive the most attention from readers can reflect bias through omission. Research indicates that the median visitor stays for only 25 seconds after opening an article,^[1] which means that it is unlikely that many readers  will venture beyond the first paragraphs.

The downplaying of critical information in the 2025 version is evident not only in the choice to use understatement when describing the organization but also in the editorial decision to position vital facts toward the end of the article. For example, the section entitled “Militant activity,” which is essential to understanding the nature of this terror organization, appears only after nine preceding paragraphs. 

Crucial information regarding the organization’s role in the abduction of the Bibas family’s mother, Shiri, and two children, Ariel and Kfir, on October 7, 2023, appears only toward the end of the article.

Moreover, in this instance as well, the article assumes the role of a spokesperson for the terror organization, narrating events almost exclusively from its point of view. For example, it states: 

On 19 February 2024, the Mujahideen Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Bilal confirmed that three members of the Bibas family had been killed in an Israeli airstrike about three weeks after being kidnapped by the Mujahideen Brigades on 7 October 2023.

However, the article fails to mention that according to the official Israeli forensic report, Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas were brutally murdered, not killed in an airstrike.

The article also fails to mention that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was ultimately correct and that  the body of Shiri Bibas had, in fact, been misidentified and replaced:

When the bodies were returned to Israel, Israeli operatives claimed that the body returned as Shirin Bibas was not the best. They claimed ruled out any other hostage with DNA testing and the IDF posted a tweet that described her as an “anonymous unidentified body.”

The Mujahedeen Movement and Hamas Movement issued several statements in response.

The only critical tone in the article is directed toward the Western media in stating that “some major news sources in the Western media, and far right leaders in the United States, falsely claimed the family had been captured by “Hamas” (the political wing associated with the Qassam Brigades), which contradicted even Israeli sources.”

Finally, a closer look at the article’s top contributors presents a troubling picture of nearly 50% of the article having been written by just two individual editors: one edited 28.1% and the other, 21.1%.

 Figure 15 – Authorship statistics for the ’Mujahideen Brigades’ article on Wikipedia

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[1] See Wikimedia’s research on reading time.