<CPOV> Can a settler be defined as human rights activist - a debate on the Hebrew Wikipedia makes it to the headlines of the Israeli press

[Heather Ford]

This is really, really interesting, Dror! Was this a vote (i.e. decision on the basis of the number rather than the quality of arguments?)

On Mar 14, 2013, at 10:03 AM, nathaniel tkacz wrote:

> thanks a lot for sharing this dror.
> 
> nate
> 
> 
> On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 9:39 AM, Dror Kamir <dqamir at bezeqint.net> wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> Once again, a debate on the Hebrew Wikipedia makes it to the headlines of the Israeli press. This time, it is a debate over the article (in Hebrew) about Orit Strook (also spelled Struk and Struck).
> 
> Ms. Strook has been recently elected to the Knesset (the Israeli parliament), and is now a prominent representative of the right-wing Zionist-religious party "The Jewish Home" (Ha-Bayit Ha-Yehudi). She is a settler from the Jewish community in Hebron (this community is considered the most hardline among the settler movement's communities.
> 
> Owing to her new status, Strook's article now has the "Knesset Member template", which, among other details, mentions the person's occupation before s/he became an MP. In the case of Strook it is defined as "human rights activist". This is because she headed the "Human Rights Organization of Judea and Samaria", an Israeli NGO whose main activity is defending Israeli settlers and right-wing activists against (alleged) police violence and issuance of restraining orders by Israeli authorities. The title "human right activist" is rarely associated with activists of the settler movement, and more commonly used when referring to Israeli left-wing activists who defend Palestinians against Israeli authorities and act against the settlement activity in the West Bank. (Note - no political statement is intended here, I'm just describing the situation for those of you who are not acquainted with Israeli politics.)
> 
> Some Israeli Wikipedians (at least one of them holds left-wing political views, to the best of my knowledge) challenged Orit Strook's definition as "human rights activist" arguing that her NGO defends only the human rights of settlers and ignores the human rights of Palestinians. According to the article's talkpage, a similar discussion has already been held in 2007, when someone suggested to add the category "human rights activists" to this article (the category is currently not there, just the mention in the template). These Wikipedians also said that this NGO's mission is inconsistent with the definition of "human rights" in the article about the subject on the Hebrew Wikipedia. One suggested alternative was writing that Strook was an "activist for settlers' rights" or just mentioning that she was "the head of the Human Rights Organization of Judea and Samaria". A response to this suggestion was "Another suggestion would be that you understand that human rights are not an innovation of the extreme left in Israel". Well, not all responses are sarcastic like this one, but this is the general idea in most of them.
> 
> The debate is now reported on one of Israel's leading news websites - NRG-Maariv (the reporter is Arik Bender). According to this report, the issue was decided by a vote of 28 against 23 to retain the definition "human rights activist" in the article about Ms. Strook. I can add that the Hebrew Wikipedia very often resorts to polling in such circumstances. Back to NRG's report, it also says that certain Wikipedians sent questions to Ms. Strook, asking her whether she supported universal human rights, including Palestinians, and whether she defined herself as "human rights activist". According to the report, Strook sent back an elaborated reply and denied she was defending only the rights of Jews. She said she had also defended Arabs who had been sentenced to death by the Palestinian Authority for selling lands to Jews.
> 
> The Report on NRG-Maariv (in Hebrew): http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/451/918.html?hp=1&cat=404&loc=9
> The article about Orit Strook on the Hebrew Wikipedia http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%AA_%D7%A1%D7%98%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A7
> The voting debate and process on the Hebrew Wikipedia (in Hebrew) http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%95%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%99%D7%A4%D7%93%D7%99%D7%94:%D7%A8%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%9E%D7%AA_%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%9B%D7%99%D7%9D_%D7%91%D7%9E%D7%97%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%A7%D7%AA/:%D7%90%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%AA_%D7%A1%D7%98%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A7
> The debate on the article's talkpage (in Hebrew) http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%97%D7%94:%D7%90%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%AA_%D7%A1%D7%98%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A7#.D7.9B.D7.A4.D7.99.D7.9C.D7.95.D7.AA_.D7.91.D7.AA.D7.91.D7.A0.D7.99.D7.AA
> 
> I hope you find this interesting,
> 
> Best,
> Dror K
> 
> 
>  
> 
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Heather Ford 
Oxford Internet Institute Doctoral Programme 
www.ethnographymatters.net 
@hfordsa on Twitter
http://hblog.org 

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