Wikimedia Levant’s members celebrate 18th anniversary of Wikipedia Arabia

AMMAN  — After more than six months of virtual meetings due to the pandemic, the members and volunteers of Wikimedia Levant gathered to celebrate the 18th anniversary of Wikipedia Arabia.

In this small ceremony, the members celebrated more than 120,000 edited words, 500 articles and 100 pictures the team had uploaded to the Arabic version of the online encyclopedia. 

The members also celebrated their development of eight feature articles on various topics and their improvements to lists on the platform, such as the World Heritage List on sites in Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine.

Abbad Diraneyya, the chief coordinator of Wikimedia Levant, has been part of the Wikipedia community since 2009. “As a home-schooled student, I always had the passion for researching topics I like,” Diraneyya told The Jordan Times. 

Diraneyya said that he was “very frustrated” by the limited online resources in Arabic. “I was later astonished when I had a realisation as a young student that thousands of results can be found online about the same topic — if searched in the English language,” he added.

After discovering the world of Wikipedia, Diraneyya began developing his research and writing skills to contribute to the website’s Arabic content. Diranneyya is now the chief coordinator of Wikimedia Levant and part of the strategic planning team at Wikimedia.

Nedhal Jarrar, architect and board member at Wikimedia Levant, has contributed to Wikipedia Arabia’s heritage documentation. Jarrar told The Jordan Times how he has combined his passion for architecture with content writing to contribute to this Arabic encyclopedia. 

When asked about improvements Wikimedia Levant could take, Jarrar said that they are not officially registered and are looking for support from the government and the local community. “Despite our multiple partnerships with universities and organisations, we are looking for a strong bond with the government to promote Jordan in the best way in terms of media and culture,” he added.

Mervat Salman, a coordinating volunteer at Wikipedia Arabia since 2012, calls for improving Arabic content on the Internet. “Arabic content on the Internet does not reflect what we are truly capable of, especially in comparison with foreign content about the same topics,” Salman told The Jordan Times.

 Salman emphasised how Wikipedia can serve as an important platform to enrich and develop Arabic content. 

She highlighted the importance of attracting young volunteers to participate in promoting Arabic content online. “This starts by raising awareness and erasing ‘Wikipedian’ illiteracy,” Salman said. 

One of the volunteers at Wikimedia, Sarah Alhourani, said that she loved the idea of community service in this domain and has found that it is both easy and effective. 

“Wikipedia in all languages has a lot of content in almost any topic you want to search for,” she told The Jordan Times. 

“I am interested in developing the ‘seed articles’ in the Arabic version of Wikipedia, because it is not as fully developed and well written like other languages,” she added. Alhourani expressed her enthusiasm to also start developing articles on a platform of her own, discussing literature, which she is passionate about.

According to their website, Wikimedia Levant “was founded in January 2013 and recognised in 2015 as the fourth user group in the Arabic-speaking countries and has since grown to perhaps one of the leading affiliates in the MENA region”.  In 2021, Wikimedia Levant has 63 members, according to the website.