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Souhaila Andrawes: what Wikipedia removed

A PFLP member who took part in the 1977 hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181. Through 2015 the opening called her “a Palestinian former terrorist and member of the PFLP.” Today the opening calls her only “a former militant and Lebanese member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,” though terrorist survives four times in the body. A reader arriving now learns she was a militant and not what Wikipedia itself once called her.

The word “terror” appeared 2 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2015. Today the opening carries none; the body carries 4. Checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01.

word2010201520206 October 20232025
terror12100
militant00011
hostage11100

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

  • The description of Andrawes as “a Palestinian former terrorist” was reworded to “a former militant and Lebanese member,” softening both her designation and her stated nationality.
  • The specific fact that she took part in the 1977 hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181, dropped from the opening.
  • A family detail, her husband’s name and daughter, dropped along with surrounding text.

2010 (revision 370097284):

Souhaila Sami Andrawes Sayeh , ( Template:Lang-ar , born 28 March 1953 in Beirut ), is a Palestinian former member of the PFLP . In 1977 she participated in the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181 . Andrawes was the only one of the four hijackers to survive the GSG 9 storming of the plane in Mogadishu . Andrawes was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment in Somalia , but was released a year later due to poor health, after which she moved to Beirut. In 1991, she moved to Oslo with her husband and a daughter until she was tracked down by Norwegian police in 1994 and handed over to Germany in 1995. The arrest was followed by a strong debate over how to deal with foreign criminals. She was sentenc…

2025 (revision 1287536810):

Palestinian member of the PFLP Souhaila Sami Andrawes Sayeh ( Arabic : سهيلة أندراوس born 28 March 1953 in Beirut ) is a former militant and Lebanese member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). ^ “Woman Tied to 1977 Hijacking Fights Extradition to Germany” . The New York Times . 9 January 1995 . Retrieved 12 March 2010 . ^ “HANSEATISCHES OBERLANDESGERICHT URTEIL IM NAMEN DEs VOLKES In der Strafsache gegen Souhaila Sami A N DRAWES SAYEH geboren am 28. März 1953 in Hadath/Libanon” (PDF) . www.unodc.org . Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-28.

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