Killing of Moshe Barsky: what Wikipedia removed
Moshe Barsky was the first member of a Zionist kibbutz, Degania Alef, killed, shot in 1913 with signs the killing was an act of revenge. Through 2020 the opening said scholars and historians considered his death the first Islamist terror attack. Today the word terror is gone from the article entirely, and the opening calls his death only ‘a significant part of pre-Israeli Zionist ethos and myths.’ A reader arriving now learns Barsky became a Zionist symbol, not that his killing was catalogued as the first Islamist terror attack.
The word “terror” appeared 1 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2020. 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”| word | 2015 | 2020 | 6 October 2023 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| terror | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| islamist | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
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 kibbutz’s founding date changed from 1910 to 1909 between snapshots, an ordinary factual correction.
- The description of his killing as the first Islamist terror attack is gone from the opening.
How it opened then, and now
Section titled “How it opened then, and now”2015 (revision 663235376):
Memorial erected at Degania Alef on the centennial of Barsky’s death. Moshe Barsky (1895 - 22 November 1913) was the first member of an Zionist kibbutz to be killed in an Arab attack. Barsky was a member of Degania Alef , the first kibbutz established by Jewish Zionist pioneers, it was founded in 1909. He was 18 years old when he was killed. ^ Dayan, Moshe (1992). Moshe Dayan: Story of My Life . DeCapo. pp. 21, 27. {{ cite book }} : |access-date= requires |url= ( help ) ^ http://www.degania.org.il/eng/general.htm ^ Stein, Leslie (2003). The Hope Fulfilled: The Rise of Modern Israel . Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 102 . Retrieved 14 October 2014 .
2025 (revision 1294251805):
Memorial erected at Degania Alef on the centennial of Barsky’s death Moshe Barsky (1895 – 22 November 1913) was the first member of a Zionist kibbutz to be killed by a Bedouin . Barsky was a member of Degania Alef , the first kibbutz established by Jewish Zionist pioneers. It was founded in 1910. He was 18 years old when he was killed with signs indicating that the murder was likely committed as an act of revenge. Following his death, Barsky quickly became a Zionist symbol, and multiple myths surrounded his life and personality. Moshe Dayan , a well-known Israeli politician and notable public figure who was named after Barsky, pointed to his death as a reason to move forward with establishin…
Related
Section titled “Related”- The drift report: what changed across all 61,944 watched articles
- The case file for this article, with every snapshot and every marked removal
- Who made the cuts: removals grouped by the account that made them
- The live article on Wikipedia
Wikipedia text is quoted under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is not affiliated with Wikipedia.