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2008 Jerusalem yeshiva attack: what Wikipedia removed

A Palestinian gunman shot and killed eight students at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem in March 2008, an attack Hamas later praised. Through 2020 the opening called it “The Mercaz HaRav massacre, also called the Mercaz HaRav shooting.” Today’s opening never uses “massacre,” opening instead with “a lone Palestinian gunman shot multiple students”; the word survives twice elsewhere in the article. It also no longer says most of the eight students killed were 15 or 16 years old. A reader today does not learn the attack’s commonly used name, the Mercaz HaRav massacre, or that most of the victims were teenagers.

The word “massacre” appeared 1 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2010. Today the opening carries none; the body carries 2. 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
massacre11100
terror65555

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 passage named the attack the Mercaz HaRav massacre, also called the Mercaz HaRav shooting; a reader today does not learn either name in the opening.
  • This passage said most of the eight students killed were 15 or 16 years old; a reader today does not learn their ages.
  • This is a rewording of the attack’s start time and duration; the underlying timeline is largely unchanged.
  • This passage quoted survivor Mijael Mendelson’s account that the attack lasted about 14 minutes; a reader today does not learn this eyewitness detail.
  • This is a rewording that named the two individuals who stopped the attacker; today’s opening names them directly.

How it opened then, and now

Section titled “How it opened then, and now”

2010 (revision 370074511):

The Mercaz HaRav massacre , also called the Mercaz HaRav shooting , was an attack that occurred on 6 March 2008, in which a lone Palestinian gunman shot multiple students at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva , a religious school in Jerusalem , Israel . Eight students, most 15 or 16 years old, and the perpetrator were killed. Eleven more were wounded, five of them placed in serious to critical condition. The attack began at 8:36 p.m. local time and ended about twenty minutes later. According to survivor Mijael Mendelson, the attack lasted about 14 minutes. Mendelson reports he saw the time before the shooting started and shortly after knowing the gunman was dead. The attacker was stopped by two Israel…

2025 (revision 1289053578):

2008 school mass shooting in Jerusalem On 6 March 2008, a lone Palestinian gunman shot multiple students at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva , a religious school in West Jerusalem . Eight students and the assailant were killed. Eleven more were wounded, five of them placed in serious to critical condition. The attack began at 8:30 p.m. local time and ended sixteen minutes later. The attacker was stopped by long-time Mercaz HaRav student Yitzhak Dadon and off-duty Israel Defense Forces Captain David Shapira, who killed the perpetrator with their personal firearms. The attack itself was praised by Hamas and, according to a subsequent poll, was supported by 84 percent of the Palestinian population, the…

Section titled “Related”

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