New website memorializes terror victims with no Wikipedia pages
Most terror victims' Wikipedia pages are deleted after they stop being relevant, a new project aims to create memorial pages for victims and their families.
Israeli victims of terror attacks who do not have dedicated Wikipedia pages will be honored in a new collaboration memorial online platform.
The Remember project, created by Rachel Meth, and OneFamily launched the commemorative website remember.bio in advance of Remembrance Day and against the backdrop of deepening social rifts in Israeli society in order to help commemorate victims of terrorism from all corners of the political sphere.
Meth offered to commemorate Border Police St.-Sgt. Barel Hadaria Shmueli, who was killed in clashes on the Gaza border in 2021 on the platform. Meth, who initiated the memorial page project together with the OneFamily non-profit organization, contacted Nitza Shmueli, Barel's bereaved mother.
They met shortly before Israel's Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism, where they agreed that this was the appropriate place to memorialize her son.
Wikipedia editors previously deleted a page dedicated to Shmueli. The editors said that the article had "no enduring historical significance." They further clarified that Wikipedia "is not here to record everyday events, even if newsworthy, or to memorialize the death of a non-notable person."
The decision to delete the page was not taken lightly with discussions between editors lasting six months, before ultimately deciding that his killing was not historically significant enough.
"We woke up one morning and simply didn't see Barel's Wikipedia page. We were so hurt and angry. I felt like my son was being murdered for the second time," said Shmueli.
Remember.bio to ensure "no terror victim is forgotten"
The platform allows anyone, whether a relative, co-worker, or friend, to create a memorial page and allow others to upload a personal memory of the deceased to the page.
"The purpose of the platform is to gather in one place all the personal stories about the victims of terrorism and allow all sectors of the public to take part in their commemoration. The platform is the only place that unites attacks from the past with recent attacks and will help deal with the impossible challenge of commemorating the victims of terrorism and will not allow them to be forgotten," said Meth.
The project will also be memorializing victims of terrorism from the Ottoman era through to today, starting with the first victim of terror recognized by the state of Israel, Avraham Shlomo Zalman Tzoref. Murdered in 1851, Tzoref was a pioneer of modern Ashkenazi settlement in Jerusalem and was instrumental in the rebuilding of Hurva synagogue.
The site also memorializes more recent victims, such as the Dee family. Three members of the Dee family were killed in a terror attack on April 7th in the Jordan Valley, the victims were Lucy Dee, 48, Maya Dee, 20, and Rina Dee, 15. Their deaths have had a huge effect on the community with thousands attending their funerals. The killings came during rising tensions both inside Israel and in the West Bank.
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