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1981 Antwerp synagogue bombing: what Wikipedia removed

The 1981 Antwerp synagogue bombing killed three people and wounded 106 outside a Portuguese Jewish synagogue. Through 2010 the opening called it an October 20, 1981 truck bomb terror attack outside a Portuguese Jewish synagogue. Today the opening says only that a truck bomb exploded outside the synagogue, with terror surviving six times elsewhere in the article. A reader today learns a truck bomb exploded at a synagogue, not that it was described as a terror attack.

The word “terror” appeared 1 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2010. Today the opening carries none; the body carries 6. Checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01.

The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot

Section titled “The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot”
word2010201520206 October 20232025
terror10000

Counts are of the opening paragraph only, the part most readers, search engines and AI training sets ever quote.

What was taken out

Section titled “What was taken out”
  • The phrase calling the bombing a truck bomb terror attack, reworded into a passive description of a truck bomb that exploded.
  • A sentence describing the explosion blowing in the synagogue’s doors and stained-glass windows, dropped from the opening.
  • A sentence noting the attack’s timing on a Tuesday morning in the diamond district, reworded elsewhere in the opening.
  • A sentence connecting the bombing to the 1980 Paris synagogue bombing one year earlier, dropped from the opening.

How it opened then, and now

Section titled “How it opened then, and now”

2010 (revision 367102343):

The 1981 Antwerp bombing was an October 20, 1981 truck bomb terror attack outside a Portuguese Jewish synagogue in the centre of Antwerp , Belgium . Three people were killed and 106 wounded. The explosion blew in the doors and stained-glass windows of the synagogue and smashed storefronts and windows for blocks around. The bomb had been concealed in a delivery truck parked illegally overnight with one wheel removed, as if it had broken down. After the blast, only the vehicle’s axles, some glass and other debris remained. The attack took place on a Tuesday morning in the diamond district of Antwerp, shortly before Simchat Torah religious services were to begin. It followed by one year the 198…

2025 (revision 1279877860):

Truck bombing in Belgium On 20 October 1981, a truck bomb exploded outside a Portuguese Jewish synagogue in the centre of Antwerp , Belgium , in the diamond district of Antwerp . The explosion took place shortly after 9:00 AM on a Tuesday morning, a few minutes before Simchat Torah religious services were to begin. Three people were killed and 106 wounded. ^ “Palestinian guerrillas claim synagogue bombing” . UPI . 21 October 1981. ^ Lewis, Paul (21 October 1981). “2 Killed By Bomb At Antwerp Synagogue” . The New York Times . Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. ^ “Jewish Targets: Recent Attacks” . The New York Times . 1986-09-07.

Section titled “Related”

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