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Steven Salaita: what Wikipedia removed

A scholar whose job offer at the University of Illinois was withdrawn after tweets about the 2014 Gaza war. Through 2015 the opening said his tweets were viewed by some as criticism of Israel “and as crossing the line into antisemitism by others.” Today the opening says only that his tweets were “critical of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza,” with antisemitism dropped, though the word survives seven times in the body. A reader arriving now learns his tweets criticized Israel and not that some viewed them as antisemitic.

The word “antisemitism” appeared 2 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2015. Today the opening carries none; the body carries 7. Checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01.

The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot

Section titled “The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot”
word201520206 October 20232025
antisemitism2100

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 clause noting that some viewed his tweets as crossing into antisemitism, dropped from the opening.
  • A sentence about the fallout from his criticism of the university’s handling of the matter, dropped from the opening.

How it opened then, and now

Section titled “How it opened then, and now”

2015 (revision 667727217):

Steven Salaita (born in 1975) is a scholar, author and public speaker who became notable when the University of Illinois withdrew its formal offer of employment as a professor of American Indian Studies after attention was drawn to his controversial tweets on the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict that were viewed as criticism of the Israeli government by some, and as crossing the line into antisemitism by others. As a result of his outspoken critique of the university’s handling of his situation, Haaretz writes that Salaita has established “celebrity status on the lecture circuit” for his talk entitled “Silencing Dissent.” ^ Alexander, Neta (January 30, 2015). “Anti-Israel professor sues University …

2025 (revision 1297427630):

American scholar (born 1975) Steven Salaita (born ( 1975 -09-15 ) September 15, 1975) is an American scholar, author and public speaker. He became the center of a controversy when the University of Illinois did not hire him as a professor of American Indian Studies following objections to a series of tweets critical of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in 2014. He also experienced similar controversy during the hiring process at the American University of Beirut in 2016. ^ ” ‘Ousted’ From Academe, Steven Salaita Says He’s Driving a School Bus to Make Ends Meet” . The Chronicle of Higher Education . February 19, 2019 . Retrieved September 1, 2020 . ^ Cohen, Jodi (September 11, 2014). “U. of I. tru…

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