<div dir="ltr">thanks a lot for sharing this dror.<div><br></div><div style>nate</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 9:39 AM, Dror Kamir <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dqamir@bezeqint.net" target="_blank">dqamir@bezeqint.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
Hello,<br>
<br>
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).<br>
<br>
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" (<i>Ha-Bayit Ha-Yehudi</i>).
She is a settler from the Jewish community in Hebron (this community
is considered the most hardline among the settler movement's
communities.<br>
<br>
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.)<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
<ul>
<li>The Report on NRG-Maariv (in Hebrew):
<a href="http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/451/918.html?hp=1&cat=404&loc=9" target="_blank">http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/451/918.html?hp=1&cat=404&loc=9</a></li>
<li>The article about Orit Strook on the Hebrew Wikipedia
<a href="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" target="_blank">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</a><br>
</li>
<li>The voting debate and process on the Hebrew Wikipedia (in
Hebrew)
<a href="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" target="_blank">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</a></li>
<li>The debate on the article's talkpage (in Hebrew)
<a href="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" target="_blank">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</a><br>
</li>
</ul>
<br>
I hope you find this interesting,<br>
<br>
Best,<br>
Dror K<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</div>
<br>_______________________________________________<br>
cpov mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:cpov@listcultures.org">cpov@listcultures.org</a><br>
<a href="http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/cpov_listcultures.org" target="_blank">http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/cpov_listcultures.org</a><br>
<br></blockquote></div><br></div>