Wikipedia is considering an Iraqi national, whose social media presence shows her support for Hamas, for a trustee board role as the company continues facing scrutiny for its anti-Israel bias.
Ravan Jaafar al-Taie, one of six finalists in the 2025 election for the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, has made several controversial posts about Israel since Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
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Included in the posts was her denial of Hamas’s use of rape against Israeli victims on Oct. 7 — claims she accuses the Israeli government of spreading. Extensive evidence into Hamas’s sexual violence proves the initial reports were real, although the extent of the reported sexual violence remains under investigation.
The Arabic woman in question also posted inverted red triangle symbols associated with Hamas in different instances over the past two years. Additionally, she said that “Israel was never and will never be a state of peace” and claimed that “Jesus was Palestinian,” not Jewish.
The Washington Examiner contacted Wikimedia for comment on al-Taie’s candidacy. While the company did not respond, the anti-Israel finalist is listed on the shortlist of candidates on Wikimedia’s website.
The six finalists, including al-Taie, are vying for two open seats in the Wikimedia election this year.
Al-Taie said she wants to run for the trustee board because she can be a voice for underrepresented communities, according to publicly available information provided on her application.
“Having been part of this [Wikimedia] movement since 2008, I’ve seen firsthand the challenges and the triumphs, especially for contributors from the Global South,” she wrote, referencing the idea that countries in the Southern Hemisphere are characterized by lower levels of socioeconomic development and political influence. “I want to bring that lived experience to the table and help ensure that decisions reflect the diversity of our global community.”
Al-Taie supports Wikimedia, and by extension Wikipedia’s, strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Meanwhile, the Jewish community has raised concerns about appointing a candidate with views that are not inclusive to Israel.
“The Wikimedia Foundation board elections raise serious concerns about anti-Israeli candidate [al-Taie] among the six finalists,” Dr. Shlomit Aharoni Lir of the University of Haifa wrote on X earlier this month, prompting the Jerusalem Post to report on al-Taie’s bid. “To combat bias and antisemitism on Wikipedia, those promoting hateful views should not serve on the board, regardless of their gender or ethnicity.”
An X account under the name Oren Barsky called al-Taie a “pro-Palestinian propagandist,” accompanied by a message to the public: “I hope you don’t rely too heavily on Wikipedia as a source of information.”
Wikipedia came under fire from the Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish organizations last year for making changes to its online entry on Zionism, the idea that the Jewish people have a right to self-determination and statehood in Israel. Wikipedia redefined the term to mean the “colonization of Palestine,” with Zionists seeking to “create a Jewish state in Palestine with as much land, as many Jews, and as few Palestinian Arabs as possible.”
WIKIPEDIA BLASTED FOR ‘WILDLY INACCURATE’ CHANGE TO ENTRY ON ZIONISM: ‘DOWNRIGHT ANTISEMITIC’
Tel Aviv Institute senior fellow Hen Mazzig criticized the entry as being “downright antisemitic” for promoting Khazar theory, “the dangerous lie that Ashkenazi Jews are converts and not descendants of the Jews exiled from the Land of Israel. This theory is often weaponized to call Israelis ‘colonizers’ and thus dehumanize us.”
Notably, the entry is guarded by an “extended confirmed protection” feature that only allows experienced Wikipedia users to make changes in order to prevent anyone from editing the webpage.