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1996 Palestinian general election: what Wikipedia removed

Hamas boycotted the Palestinian Authority’s first general election in 1996. Through 2010 the opening described Hamas as “Fatah’s main rival and a group considered a terrorist organization by Israel and most Western governments.” Today’s opening does not mention Hamas at all, and the word “terror” appears nowhere in the article. A reader today does not learn that Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by Israel and most Western governments, or that this was why it boycotted the election.

The word “terror” appeared 1 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2010. Today it appears nowhere in the article at all, references included. 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
islamist10000

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”
  • This is a rewording of where the elections took place; the location details are unchanged.
  • This passage called Hamas a group considered a terrorist organization by Israel and most Western governments; a reader today does not learn of that designation.

How it opened then, and now

Section titled “How it opened then, and now”

2010 (revision 369821495):

On January 20, 1996, elections took place in the West Bank , Gaza Strip , and East Jerusalem for President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) , and for members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) , the legislative arm of the PNA. The 1996 elections took place in a moment of optimism in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process , and many Palestinians believed that the government they were electing would be the first of an independent Palestinian state . However, in the ensuing months and years, Israelis and Palestinians failed to resolve their differences and come to a final status agreement, and an upswing in violence meant that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would continue.…

2025 (revision 1294076070):

Presidential election 2005 → Parliamentary election 2006 → All 88 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council 45 seats needed for a majority This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. General elections were held for the first time in the Palestinian territories on 20 January 1996 to elect the President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), the legislative arm of the PNA. They took place in the West Bank , the Gaza Strip , and East Jerusalem . A new government was formed following the elections, headed by President Yasser Arafat .

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