The word “colonial” appeared 2 times in this article's opening at its peak in 2015. Today the opening carries none. 3 remain further down the article, where a reader arriving from a search result does not go.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-02. “colonial” appeared 2 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 3.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2015 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2015
Nur-eldeen (Nur) Masalha ( ; born 4 January 1957, Galilee , Israel) is a Palestinian writer and academic.1He is Historian and Professor of Religion and Politics and Director of the Centre for Religion and History and the Holy Land Research Project at St. He is also Programme Director of the MA in Religion, Politics and Conflict Resolution at St Mary's.2He is currently also Professorial Research Associate, Department of History, School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London).3He was also a member of the Kuwait Programme, Department of Government, London School of Economics (monograph, with Stephanie Cronin, on ‘The Islamic Republic of Iran and the GCC States: From Revolution to Realpolitik?). He is also the editor of Holy Land Studies : A Multidisciplinary Journal , published by Edinburgh University Press, and the author of many books on Palestine-Israel, including Theologies of Liberation in Palestine-Israel: Indigenous, Contextual, and Postcolonial Perspectives (2014), The Zionist Bible: Biblical Precedent, Colonialism and the Erasure of Memory (2013), The Palestine Nakba: Decolonising History, Narrating the Subaltern, Reclaiming Memory (January 2012), The Bible and Zionism: Invented Traditions, Archaeology and Post-Colonialism in Palestine-Israel (2007), A Land Without a People (1997), Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of "Transfer" in Zionist Political Thought, 1882-1948 (1992), Imperial Israel and the Palestinians: The Politics of Expansion (2000) and The Politics of Denial: Israel and the Palestinian Refugee Problem (2003). Masalha has also served as an honorary fellow in the Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Durham University ; Research Associate in the Department of Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies ; and has taught at Birzeit University in Ramallah , West Bank . Masalha is also the historian commentator in the award–winning, documentary film “La Terre Parle Arabe” (the Land Speaks Arabic) (2007), directed by Maryse Gargour, which tells the story of the background and build-up to the expulsion and flight of the Palestinian Arabs in 1948 from the newly created State of Israel.4
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 659729440.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Nur-eldeen (Nur) Masalha ( ) (born 4 January 1957, Galilee , Israel) is a Palestinian writer and academic. He is Professor of Religion and Politics and Director of the Centre for Religion and History and the Holy Land Research Project at St. Mary's University College , University of Surrey . He is currently also Professorial Research Associate, Department of History, School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London). He is also the editor of Holy Land Studies: A Multidisciplinary Journal , and the author of many books on Palestine-Israel, including The Bible and Zionism: Invented Traditions, Archaeology and Post-Colonialism in Palestine-Israel (2007), A Land Without a People (1997), Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of "Transfer" in Zionist Political Thought, 1882-1948 (1992), Imperial Israel and the Palestinians: The Politics of Expansion (2000) and The Politics of Denial: Israel and the Palestinian Refugee Problem (2003). Masalha has also served as an honorary fellow in the Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Durham University ; Research Associate in the Department of Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies ; and has taught at Birzeit University , in Ramallah , West Bank . Masalha is also the historian commentator in the award–winning, documentary film “La Terre Parle Arabe” (the Land Speaks Arabic) (2007), directed by Maryse Gargour, which tells the graphic story of the background and build-up to the expulsion of the Palestinians from their ancestral villages and towns (now in Israel) in 1948.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 351312981.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Nur-eldeen (Nur) Masalha ( Nūr Maṣālḥa ; born 4 January 1957) is a Palestinian writer and academic. He is Palestinian Historian and formerly Professor of Religion and Politics and Director of the Centre for Religion and History and the Holy Land Research Project at St. He was also Programme Director of the MA in Religion, Politics and Conflict Resolution at St Mary's University (2005-2015).He is currently Member of the Centre for Palestine Studies , London Middle East Institute , School of Oriental and African Studies , University of London .He is also currently Member of the Centre for the Philosophy of History , St. He was also a member of the Kuwait Programme, Department of Government, London School of Economics (monograph, with Stephanie Cronin, on ‘The Islamic Republic of Iran and the GCC States: From Revolution to Realpolitik?). A Multidisciplinary Journal ), published by Edinburgh University Press, and the author of many books on Palestine-Israel, including Theologies of Liberation in Palestine-Israel: Indigenous, Contextual, and Postcolonial Perspectives (2014), The Zionist Bible: Biblical Precedent, Colonialism and the Erasure of Memory (2013), The Palestine Nakba: Decolonising History, Narrating the Subaltern, Reclaiming Memory (January 2012), The Bible and Zionism: Invented Traditions, Archaeology and Post-Colonialism in Palestine-Israel (2007), Catastrophe Remembered (2005), A Land Without a People (1997), Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of "Transfer" in Zionist Political Thought, 1882-1948 (1992), Imperial Israel and the Palestinians: The Politics of Expansion (2000) and The Politics of Denial: Israel and the Palestinian Refugee Problem (2003). Masalha has also served as an honorary fellow in the Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Durham University ; Research Associate in the Department of Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies ; and has taught at Birzeit University in Ramallah , West Bank . Masalha is also the historian commentator in the award–winning, documentary film “La Terre Parle Arabe” (the Land Speaks Arabic) (2007), directed by Maryse Gargour, which tells the story of the background and build-up to the expulsion and flight of the Palestinian Arabs in 1948 from the newly created State of Israel.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 952400186.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Palestinian writer and academic (born 1957) Nur ad-Din Masalha ( ; born 4 January 1957) commonly known in English as Nur Masalha is a Palestinian writer, historian, and academic. He is a historian of Palestine and formerly professor of religion and politics and director of the Centre for Religion and History and the Holy Land Research Project at St. He was also programme director of the MA in religion, Politics and Conflict Resolution at St Mary's University (2005–2015). He is currently member of the Centre for Palestine Studies and the London Middle East Institute, (both hosted at the School of Oriental and African Studies ) as well as the University of London . He is also a member of the Centre for the Philosophy of History, St. He was a professorial research associate, at the Department of History of SOAS (University of London), from 2009–2015. He was a member of the Kuwait Programme, Department of Government, London School of Economics (monograph, with Stephanie Cronin, on ‘The Islamic Republic of Iran and the GCC States: From Revolution to Realpolitik?). A Multidisciplinary Journal ), published by Edinburgh University Press, and the author of many books on Palestine-Israel, including Theologies of Liberation in Palestine-Israel: Indigenous, Contextual, and Postcolonial Perspectives (2014), Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History (2018), The Zionist Bible: Biblical Precedent, Colonialism and the Erasure of Memory (2013), The Palestine Nakba: Decolonising History, Narrating the Subaltern, Reclaiming Memory (January 2012), The Bible and Zionism: Invented Traditions, Archaeology and Post-Colonialism in Palestine-Israel (2007), Catastrophe Remembered (2005), A Land Without a People (1997), Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of "Transfer" in Zionist Political Thought, 1882–1948 (1992), Imperial Israel and the Palestinians: The Politics of Expansion (2000) and The Politics of Denial: Israel and the Palestinian Refugee Problem (2003). Nur Masalha also sits on the editorial board of Janus Unbound: Journal of Critical Studies whose inaugural issue on Palestine he describes as a "major achievement." Masalha has also served as an honorary fellow in the Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Durham University ; research associate in the Department of Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies ; and has taught at Birzeit University in Ramallah , West Bank . Masalha is also the historian commentator in the award–winning, documentary film La Terre Parle Arabe [the Land Speaks Arabic] (2007), directed by Maryse Gargour, which tells the story of the background and build-up to the expulsion and flight of the Palestinian Arabs in 1948 from the newly created State of Israel. "Kitāb ṭard al-falasṭīniyīn - mafhūm at-tarānsfīr fī al-fikr wa-at-taḫṭīṭ aṣ-ṣihyūnī" كتاب طرد الفلسطينيين - مفهوم الترانسفير في الفكر والتخطيط الصهيوني [Book: The Palestinians' Expulsion - Idea of the Transfer in the Zionist Thinking and Planning] (in Arabic).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1177325819.
The opening as it stood in 2025 10 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Palestinian writer and academic (born 1957) Nur ad-Din Masalha ( Arabic : نور الدين مصالحة , romanized : Nūr ad-Dīn Maṣāliḥa , pronounced [nuːr ɪdˈdiːn mɑˈsˤɑːlħɑ] ; born 4 January 1957) is a Palestinian writer, historian, and academic.His work focuses on the history, politics, and theology of Palestine, including themes such as the Palestinian Nakba , Zionism , and liberation theology .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1287927863. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
“colonial” appeared 2 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 3. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined between 2010 and 6 October 2023.
Then
palestinian writer and academic
Now
palestinian writer
Sections that no longer exist
Present on 6 October 2023, absent today. A heading can vanish because the section was deleted or because it was renamed or merged, and we have not separated those here, so treat this as a list of what to check rather than a verdict.
Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies (formerly Holy Land Studies: A Multidisciplinary Journal)883 characters
Posts held1,177 characters
Books in English, Spanish and Arabic2,380 characters
Articles and chapters in books7,145 characters
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.