More from Robert Kuttner<\/a><\/p>\n By contrast, here\u2019s what Wikipedia has to say about Volcker\u2019s ethnic origins: \u201cVolcker was born in Cape May, New Jersey<\/a>, the son of Alma Louise (n\u00e9e Klippel, 1892\u20131990) and Paul Adolph Volcker (1889\u20131960). All his grandparents were of German origin<\/a>.\u201d That\u2019s it. We don\u2019t learn anything about Volcker\u2019s religion, much less his grandparents\u2019.<\/p>\n In general, Wikipedia listings don\u2019t identify the religions of most people, though they do often have brief references to ethnicity. But Jews get more detail. Wikipedia doesn\u2019t care whether a person is observant or whether they note Jewish identity in their own biographies. As in the Nuremberg laws, once a Jew, always a Jew.<\/p>\n In some cases, Wikipedia even includes the Yiddish version of surnames, which seems to have no purpose except to underscore otherness. Here\u2019s the section on the ethnic background of Mel Brooks: <\/p>\n Where does this come from?<\/p>\n As we all know, Wikipedia entries are written and edited by volunteer editors, and anyone in the general public can add material. There are paid staff who supervise the enterprise.<\/p>\n There may well be a small group of Wikipedia sleuths determined to let no Jew be left behind. But is this antisemitic? It\u2019s a tricky question. There are at least three websites, all prideful, devoted to documenting the identity and valor of Jewish baseball players<\/a> (who are rarer than, say, Jewish investment bankers).<\/p>\n I should add by way of disclaimer that I cherish Wikipedia. In contrast to Google and the other platform monopolies, Wikipedia does not track my queries in order to sell my data. Imagine if Google were a similar public utility, or conversely, if Wikipedia were a for-profit enterprise.<\/p>\n Back in January, I asked Wikipedia\u2019s leadership to look into just who is going out of their way to flag Jews, and whether this might be antisemitic. Wikipedia\u2019s media department says they are looking into it. I will update when and if they respond.<\/p>\n I also put the question to the Anti-Defamation League. If anyone has sensitive antennae to anything that might smack of antisemitism, it surely would be the ADL, right? And there I stumbled on an even more interesting story.<\/p>\n The ADL, it turns out, has a whole unit devoted to Wikipedia. I discussed the issue with the leader of that unit, whom the ADL let me speak to on background. But the unit couldn\u2019t care less about whether Wikipedia\u2019s entries on American Jews might be antisemitic. Rather, the unit\u2019s main work is challenging Wikipedia\u2019s entries on Palestine and Israel.<\/p>\n A 2025 ADL report on Wikipedia claims to have found \u201cwidespread antisemitic and anti-Israel bias on Wikipedia, including clear evidence of a coordinated campaign to manipulate Wikipedia\u2019s content related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.\u201d According to the report, a group of at least 30 editors acted in concert \u201cto circumvent Wikipedia\u2019s policies to introduce antisemitic narratives, anti-Israel bias, and misleading information.\u201d<\/p>\n Wikipedia has not only challenged these supposed findings. Its current entry on ADL<\/a> includes this statement: \u201cIn June 2024, the community<\/a> of the English Wikipedia<\/a> reached a consensus that the ADL was \u2018generally unreliable\u2019 on the topic of the Israeli\u2013Palestinian conflict<\/a>, including \u2018the intersection of antisemitism and the [Israeli\u2013Palestinian] conflict, such as labeling pro-Palestinian activists as antisemitic.\u2019\u201d The item added: \u201cWikipedia\u2019s perennial sources list<\/a> noted \u2018that outside of the topic of the Israel\/Palestine conflict, the ADL is a generally reliable source, including for topics related to hate groups and extremism in the U.S.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n THE ADL HAS LONG BEEN DEVOTED to Israel in addition to battling domestic antisemitism, but under Jonathan Greenblatt, whose tenure as CEO since 2015 coincides with the rapacious behavior and growing global isolation of Israel, the Zionist mission has increasingly crowded out the domestic one and impeached the ADL\u2019s own credibility.<\/p>\n In a 2022 speech to ADL leaders, Greenblatt flatly said that \u201canti-Zionism<\/a> is antisemitism.\u201d ADL\u2019s annual reports on antisemitic incidents include peaceful protests criticizing Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza or expressing sympathy with Palestinians.<\/p>\n In January 2024, two-thirds of the ADL\u2019s tally of more than 3,283 antisemitic incidents in the United States since October 7, 2023, were tied to the Gaza war. The ADL even classified anti-war protest events led by groups like Jewish Voice for Peace<\/a> as anti-Israel, and hence antisemitic.<\/p>\n In shifting its emphasis and resources to trying to equate criticism of Israel\u2019s behavior with antisemitism, the ADL has increasingly disinvested from its historic mission to promote tolerance. In December 2023, the ADL ended its anti-bias education<\/a> program, A World of Difference. The program was founded in 1985 to address bias in all forms and was used in school curricula.<\/p>\n In June 2025, the ADL laid off 22 employees as part of a shift away from broader civil rights work in favor of focusing on its specific definition of antisemitism. Subsequently, the ADL deleted its Glossary of Extremism, which contained thousands of entries on neo-Nazi groups, militias, and antisemitic conspiracies, after facing criticism by Elon Musk.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Kuttner-ADL-031026-2.png\")
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