Wiki Me
Aussie Dave | Aug 27, 2006 | 3 comments
My friends Carol and Charley over at the Israelisms podcast have had their attempts to be listed on Wikipedia contested, with the result being that their entry was deleted. Charley believes the move may have been motivated by anti-Israel sentiment, but the jury is still out.
Which got me thinking how cool it would be for one of you to create an Israellycool (blog and podcast) article on Wikipedia. Besides the buzz at having an Israellycool Wikipedia article, we could test Charley’s theory that anti-Israel sentiment could torpedo attempts to include a pro-Israel site on there. And given the relatively high traffic and press coverage of this site, I believe our chances of having a lasting Wikipedia article are good, unless there is some anti-Israel agenda.
Any volunteers to get the ball rolling?
About the Author
An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.Filed Under: General
I hope someone takes up the challenge. Maybe Laurence Simon!
Not necessarily anti israel, but anti “not left wing enough”. Wikipedia has contested some blogs before, by the argument that “blogs are not enciclopedizable” while keeping others listed. It’s some consecuence of its mob rule nature.
Wouldn’t it be kind of awesome to post a Wiki article on a pro-Israel site and actually praise it, despite my pro-Palestinian background? That way, it will be kind of impossible for the article to be labeled as biased. Seems as though a lot of people don’t really get Dave’s articles and mission at all. They will be surprised if I tell them that the author of this blog is actually one of the first people to support a website by Arab-Muslims, most of which are pro-Palestinian by default, because they will immediately assume that all pro-Israel blogs are racist, anti-Arab, un-Islamic, etc. But if anyone actually read this site’s content they won’t come to that conclusion so quickly.
I should give this Wiki thing a shot. I’ve been trying to help Israellycool by making more Arabs aware of it. I think it’s important for sites like these to be more exposed to those who need to educate themselves on where “the other” side is coming from. I was horrified when this site was blocked from our servers for a few days.
Supporting a site doesn’t mean agreeing with its content or sharing the author’s viewpoint. It’s more of a freedom of expression/need for dialogue thing. Sadly many Arabs don’t realize this, and if you call this blog excellent they immediately claim that you have a pro-Israel status.
Just like there are pro-Arab Israelis, there are pro-Israeli Arabs. You don’t hear their voices because they’re silenced. You will never find pro-Israeli Arabs who don’t receive death threats or are labeled as traitors and beasts. I’m not pro-Israel at all, but I have a lot of respect for Israelis in general. Especially those who were willing to work with me by trying to promote tolerance amongsts all kinds of Arabs, Israelis, religions, etc.
Just like I have a lot of Israelis supporting the mission behind my site, you need to remember that you have a lot of Arabs and Muslims supporting this site too.