In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “premeditated massacre of many male inhabitants from the arab village of surafend”. Today it says “premeditated massacre committed against inhabitants of the village of sarafand al-amar”. Designation language fell while accusation language rose.
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. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “premeditated massacre of many male inhabitants from the arab village of surafend”. Today it says “premeditated massacre committed against inhabitants of the village of sarafand al-amar”. Designation language fell while accusation language rose.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2025 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 2025
Surafend massacre ( Arabic : مجزرة صرفند ) was a premeditated massacre committed against inhabitants of the village of Sarafand al-Amar (modern-day Tzrifin ) and a Bedouin camp in Ottoman Palestine by occupying Australian, New Zealand and Scottish soldiers on 10 December 1918. Occurring at the conclusion of the Sinai and Palestine campaign of World War I , Allied occupational forces in the region, in particular Australian and New Zealand troops, gradually grew frustrated over being subject to petty theft and an alleged murder by local Arabs without redress. On the night of 9 December, a New Zealand soldier named Leslie Lowry was killed by a thief who had stolen his kitbag. Lowry died without speaking, but alongside his body the troops found some pieces of evidence, including a piece of Arabic clothing, and (allegedly) a set of footprints leading towards Surafend.
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1298310410.
The opening as it stood in 2010
The Surafend affair ( ) was the premeditated massacre of many male inhabitants from the Arab village of Surafend (now the area of Tzrifin in Israel ) and a Bedouin camp in Palestine by soldiers of the Anzac Mounted Division on 10 December 1918. The massacre, believed to have been in response to the murder of a New Zealand soldier by a villager, was mostly overshadowed by the military achievements of the Division, although it caused a significant rift between the Division and its Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Edmund Allenby . Surafend, the massacre, Palestine, 10 December 1918/ "Surafend" .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 327298927.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
1918 massacre in Mandatory Palestine The Surafend massacre ( ) was the premeditated massacre of many male inhabitants from the Arab village of Surafend (now the area of Tzrifin in Israel ) and a Bedouin camp in Palestine by soldiers of the ANZAC Mounted Division on 10 December 1918. The massacre, believed to have been in response to the murder of a New Zealand soldier by a villager, caused a significant rift between the Division and its Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Edmund Allenby .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 954429114.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
1918 massacre in Ottoman Palestine by New Zealanders The Surafend massacre ( ) was the premeditated massacre of many male inhabitants from the Arab village of Surafend (now the area of Tzrifin in Israel ) and a Bedouin camp in Palestine by soldiers of the ANZAC Mounted Division , as well as a small number of Scottish soldiers, on 10 December 1918. The massacre, believed to have been in response to the murder of a New Zealand soldier by a villager, caused a significant rift between the Division and its Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Edmund Allenby .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1176149497.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “premeditated massacre of many male inhabitants from the arab village of surafend”. Today it says “premeditated massacre committed against inhabitants of the village of sarafand al-amar”. Designation language fell while accusation language rose. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
massacre
3
3
5
4
4
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 2025.
Then
premeditated massacre of many male inhabitants from the arab village of surafend
Now
premeditated massacre committed against inhabitants of the village of sarafand al-amar
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.
