Delete Sally from Wiki, Hmmm? (Wikipedia as anti-Arab? You Decide..)
ok, so i'm sure it has nothing to do with me, i'm just not 'notable enough.' actually i couldn't care less because i'm in my reclusive 'not doing nothing productive' phase now. BUT, someone sent this to me and it's an interesting read. Happy Easter to all!
love,
sally b
*****
Editor's Note:
The Middle East conflict rages online as well as in the
territories. Here is an expose on how pro-Israeli groups
are re-writing history and waging a propaganda exercise
using Wikipedia.
-----------------------------------------------------------
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steel. Bonds, fills, anchors, caulks and waterproofs just
about anything.
Can even be molded into or around any shaped or material.
Once dried, it can be sanded, dried and painted. This
special, reader's only price, includes 3 tubes in a
package for just $9.99... Get two packages, 6 tubes total,
for $15.98.
VISIT: http://pd.gophercentral.com/r/120/a/504/l/0x4u56
ATOMIC BOND PUTTY (3 Tubes in a package)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Video Clip Of The Week
Bin Laden's Son Says Videos Are Fakes Of His Father
On Belgian television, Omar Bin Laden claimed that there
are fake video clones of his father. Of course this makes
sense since his death was widely reported in the Middle
East, including the respected Egyptian newspaper, Al Wafd
in 2001.
View:
Bin Laden's Son Says Videos Are Fakes Of His Father
-----------------------------------------------------------
Exposed - Pro-Israeli Group Manipulating Wikipedia
A pro-Israel pressure group is orchestrating a secret,
long-term campaign to infiltrate the popular online
encyclopedia Wikipedia to rewrite Palestinian history,
pass off crude propaganda as fact, and take over Wikipedia
administrative structures to ensure these changes go either
undetected or unchallenged.
A series of emails by members and associates of the pro-
Israel group CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East
Reporting in America), provided to The Electronic Intifada
(EI), indicate the group is engaged in what one activist
termed a "war" on Wikipedia.
A 13 March action alert signed by Gilead Ini, a "Senior
Research Analyst" at CAMERA, calls for "volunteers who
can work as 'editors' to ensure" that Israel-related
articles on Wikipedia are "free of bias and error, and
include necessary facts and context." However, subsequent
communications indicate that the group not only wanted to
keep the effort secret from the media, the public, and
Wikipedia administrators, but that the material they
intended to introduce included discredited claims that
could smear Palestinians and Muslims and conceal Israel's
true history.
With over two million articles in English on every topic
imaginable, Wikipedia has become a primary reference
source for Internet users around the world and a model
for collaboratively produced projects. Openness and good
faith are among Wikipedia's core principles. Any person
in the world can write or edit articles, but Wikipedia
has strict guidelines and procedures for accountability
intended to ensure quality control and prevent vandalism,
plagiarism or distortion. It is because of these safeguards
that articles on key elements of the Palestine-Israel
conflict have generally remained well-referenced, useful
and objective. The CAMERA plan detailed in the e-mails
obtained by EI appears intended to circumvent these
controls.
In the past, CAMERA has gained notoriety for its tactic of
accusing virtually anyone who does not toe a right-wing
pro-Israel line of bias. The group has even accused editors
and reporters of the Israeli daily Haaretz of being
"extreme" and participating in "radical anti-Israel
activity." Jeffrey Dvorkin, the former ombudsman of
National Public Radio (NPR), frequently criticized by
CAMERA for an alleged pro-Palestinian bias, wrote on
the web publication Salon in February 2008 that "as a
consequence of its campaign against NPR, CAMERA acted as
the enabler for some seriously disturbed people," citing
persistent telephone threats he received in the wake of
CAMERA campaigns.
Need for stealth and secrecy
Throughout the documents EI obtained, CAMERA operatives
stress the need for stealth and secrecy. In his initial
action alert, Ini requests that recipients "not forward
it to members of the news media." In a 17 March follow-up
email sent to volunteers, Ini explains that he wants to
make the orchestrated effort appear to be the work of
unaffiliated individuals. Thus he advises that "There is
no need to advertise the fact that we have these group
discussions."
Anticipating possible objections to CAMERA's scheme, Ini
conjectures that "Anti-Israel editors will seize on any-
thing to try to discredit people who attempt to challenge
their problematic assertions, and will be all too happy
to pretend, and announce, that a 'Zionist' cabal (the same
one that controls the banks and Hollywood?) is trying to
hijack Wikipedia."
But stealth and misrepresentation are presented as the keys
to success. Ini suggests that after volunteers sign up as
editors for Wikipedia they should "avoid editing Israel-
related articles for a short period of time." This strategy
is intended to "avoid the appearance of being one-topic
editors," thus attracting unwanted attention.
Ini counsels that volunteers "might also want to avoid,
for obvious reasons, picking a user name that marks you
as pro-Israel, or that lets people know your real name."
To further conceal the identity of CAMERA-organized
editors, Ini warns, "don't forget to always log in before
making [edits]. If you make changes while not logged in,
Wikipedia will record your computer's IP address" -- a
number that allows identification of the location of a
computer connected to the Internet.
A veteran Wikipedia editor, known as "Zeq," who according
to the emails is colluding with CAMERA, also provided
advice to CAMERA volunteers on how they could disguise
their agenda. In a 20 March email often in misspelled
English, Zeq writes, "You don't want to be precived [sic]
as a 'CAMERA' defender' on wikipedia [sic] that is for
sure." One strategy to avoid that is to "edit articles
at random, make friends not enemies -- we will need them
later on. This is a marathon not a sprint."
Zeq also identifies, in a 25 March email, another Wikipedia
editor, "Jayjg," whom he views as an effective and
independent pro-Israel advocate. Zeq instructs CAMERA
operatives to work with and learn from Jayjg, but not to
reveal the existence of their group even to him fearing
"it would place him in a bind" since "[h]e is very loyal
to the wikipedia [sic] system" and might object to CAMERA's
underhanded tactics.
"Uninvolved administrators"
The emphasis on secrecy is apparently not only to aid the
undetected editing of articles, but also to facilitate
CAMERA's takeover of key administrator positions in
Wikipedia.
For Zeq a key goal is to have CAMERA operatives elected
as administrators -- senior editors who can override the
decisions of others when controversies arise. When disputes
arise about hotly contested topics, such as Israel and
Palestine, often only an "uninvolved administrator" -- one
who is considered neutral because he or she has not edited
or written articles on the topic -- can arbitrate.
Hence, Zeq advises in a 21 March email that "One or more
of you who want to take this route should stay away from
any Israel realted [sic] articles for one month until
they [sic] interact in a positive way with 100 wikipedia
[sic] editors who would be used later to vote you as an
administrator."
Once these CAMERA operatives have successfully infiltrated
as "neutral" editors, they could then exercise their
privileges to assert their own political agenda.
In addition, Zeq suggests making deliberately provocative
edits to Palestine-related articles. He hopes that editors
he assumes are Palestinian will delete these changes, and
then CAMERA operatives could report them to administrators
so they could be sanctioned and have their editing
privileges suspended.
-----------------------------------------------------------
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flexible bristles that clean your feet and stimulates blood
circulation. Also, it has a built-in embedded pumice stone
to rid dead cells on the hard skin on your sole.
The suction cups underneath the base will allow an easy fix
to shower floor. And when its not in use you can hang it
on a hook or attach it to the side of the shower.
Now you clean your soles and enjoy a comfortable foot
massage every time you take a shower!... Makes An
Excellent Gift.
Get one for $5.99... or get two (2) for $9.98. To order,
visit: http://pd.gophercentral.com/r/120/a/504/l/ud4ho1
SOLE CLEANER & MASSAGE MAT
-----------------------------------------------------------
Passing propaganda as fact
Gilead Ini's 17 March email provides specific advice on
how to pass off pro-Israel propaganda or opinion as fact
meeting Wikipedia's strict guidelines:
"So, for example, imagine that you get rid of or modify
a problematic sentence in an article alleging that
'Palestinian [sic] become suicide bombers to respond to
Israel's oppressive policies.' You should, in parallel
leave a comment on that article's discussion page (either
after or before making the change). Avoid defending
the edit by arguing that 'Israel's policies aren't
'oppression,' they are defensive. And anyway Palestinians
obviously become suicide bombers for other reasons for
example hate education!' Instead, describe how this sentence
violates Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. One of the
core principles is that assertions should adhere to a
Neutral Point of View, usually abbreviated NPOV. (The
opposite of NPOV is POV, or Point of View, which is
basically another way of saying subjective statement, or
opinion.) So it would be best to note on the discussion
page that 'This sentence violates Wikipedia's NPOV policy,
since the description of Israel's policies as 'oppressive'
is an opinion. In addition, it is often noted by Middle
East experts that one of the reasons Palestinians decide
to become suicide bombers is hate education and
glorification of martyrdom in Palestinian society...'"
In fact, there have been numerous studies debunking claims
about Palestinian "hate education," or "glorification of
martyrdom" causing suicide bombings (such as Dying to Win
by University of Chicago political scientist Robert Pape)
though this claim remains a favorite canard of pro-Israel
activists seeking to distract attention from the effects
of Israel's occupation and other well-documented and
systematic human rights abuses in fueling violence.
Zeq specifically names articles targeted for this kind of
treatment including those on the 1948 Palestinian Exodus,
Causes of the 1948 Palestinian exodus, Hamas, Hizballah,
Arab citizens of Israel, anti-Zionism, al-Nakba, the
Palestinian people, and the Palestinian right of return.
Interestingly the CAMERA editors also target the article
on the early Islamic period concept of Dhimmi, a protected
status for non-Muslims which historically allowed Jews to
thrive in Muslim-ruled lands while other Jews were being
persecuted in Christian Europe. Pro-Israel activists have
often tried to portray the concept of Dhimmi as akin to
the Nuremberg laws in order to denigrate Muslim culture
and justify ahistorical Zionist claims that Jews could
never live safely in majority Muslim countries.
Also among the emails is a discussion about how to alter
the article on the massacre of Palestinian civilians in
the village of Deir Yassin by Zionist militiamen on 9 April
1948. Unable to debunk the facts of the massacre outright,
the CAMERA activists hunt for quotes from "reputable
historians" who can cast doubt on it. Their strategy is
not dissimilar from those who attempt to present evolution,
or global climate change as "controversial" regardless of
the weight of the scientific evidence, simply because the
facts do not accord with their belief system.
Zeq has already made extensive edits to the Wikipedia
article on Rachel Corrie, the American peace activist
murdered by an Israeli soldier in the occupied Gaza Strip
on 16 March 2003. As a result of these and other edits
Zeq has himself been a controversial figure among Wikipedia
editors, suggesting his own stealth tactics may not be
working.
"We will go to war"
Zeq, however, counsels CAMERA operatives to be patient and
lie low until they build up their strength. "We will go
to war after we have build our army, equiped it trained
[sic]," he wrote on 9 April. "So please if you want to
win this war help us build ou[r] army. let's not just rush
in and achieve nothing, or abit more than nothing [sic]."
DOWNLOAD CAMERA'S EMAILS:
http://electronicintifada.net/downloads/pdf/080421-camera-wikipedia.pdf
The Middle East conflict rages online as well as in the
territories. Here is an expose on how pro-Israeli groups
are re-writing history and waging a propaganda exercise
using Wikipedia.
-----------------------------------------------------------
ATOMIC BOND PUTTY (3 Tubes in a package)
Mixes Like Clay... Hardens Like Steel...
Normal Price: $19.99
DEAL PRICE: $9.99
Get 2 Packages for $15.98
No matter what the job, you can repair it fast, safe,
easily and PERMANENT with this amazing Atomic Bond Putty.
Bonds, seals leaks and repairs gouges in steel, aluminum,
wood, fiberglass, concrete and ceramics in only 20-30
minutes.
It's EASY! Simply cut, knead to activate and apply.
Mixes like clay, stays where you put it, then hardens like
steel. Bonds, fills, anchors, caulks and waterproofs just
about anything.
Can even be molded into or around any shaped or material.
Once dried, it can be sanded, dried and painted. This
special, reader's only price, includes 3 tubes in a
package for just $9.99... Get two packages, 6 tubes total,
for $15.98.
VISIT: http://pd.gophercentral.com/r/120/a/504/l/0x4u56
ATOMIC BOND PUTTY (3 Tubes in a package)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Video Clip Of The Week
Bin Laden's Son Says Videos Are Fakes Of His Father
On Belgian television, Omar Bin Laden claimed that there
are fake video clones of his father. Of course this makes
sense since his death was widely reported in the Middle
East, including the respected Egyptian newspaper, Al Wafd
in 2001.
View:
Bin Laden's Son Says Videos Are Fakes Of His Father
-----------------------------------------------------------
Exposed - Pro-Israeli Group Manipulating Wikipedia
A pro-Israel pressure group is orchestrating a secret,
long-term campaign to infiltrate the popular online
encyclopedia Wikipedia to rewrite Palestinian history,
pass off crude propaganda as fact, and take over Wikipedia
administrative structures to ensure these changes go either
undetected or unchallenged.
A series of emails by members and associates of the pro-
Israel group CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East
Reporting in America), provided to The Electronic Intifada
(EI), indicate the group is engaged in what one activist
termed a "war" on Wikipedia.
A 13 March action alert signed by Gilead Ini, a "Senior
Research Analyst" at CAMERA, calls for "volunteers who
can work as 'editors' to ensure" that Israel-related
articles on Wikipedia are "free of bias and error, and
include necessary facts and context." However, subsequent
communications indicate that the group not only wanted to
keep the effort secret from the media, the public, and
Wikipedia administrators, but that the material they
intended to introduce included discredited claims that
could smear Palestinians and Muslims and conceal Israel's
true history.
With over two million articles in English on every topic
imaginable, Wikipedia has become a primary reference
source for Internet users around the world and a model
for collaboratively produced projects. Openness and good
faith are among Wikipedia's core principles. Any person
in the world can write or edit articles, but Wikipedia
has strict guidelines and procedures for accountability
intended to ensure quality control and prevent vandalism,
plagiarism or distortion. It is because of these safeguards
that articles on key elements of the Palestine-Israel
conflict have generally remained well-referenced, useful
and objective. The CAMERA plan detailed in the e-mails
obtained by EI appears intended to circumvent these
controls.
In the past, CAMERA has gained notoriety for its tactic of
accusing virtually anyone who does not toe a right-wing
pro-Israel line of bias. The group has even accused editors
and reporters of the Israeli daily Haaretz of being
"extreme" and participating in "radical anti-Israel
activity." Jeffrey Dvorkin, the former ombudsman of
National Public Radio (NPR), frequently criticized by
CAMERA for an alleged pro-Palestinian bias, wrote on
the web publication Salon in February 2008 that "as a
consequence of its campaign against NPR, CAMERA acted as
the enabler for some seriously disturbed people," citing
persistent telephone threats he received in the wake of
CAMERA campaigns.
Need for stealth and secrecy
Throughout the documents EI obtained, CAMERA operatives
stress the need for stealth and secrecy. In his initial
action alert, Ini requests that recipients "not forward
it to members of the news media." In a 17 March follow-up
email sent to volunteers, Ini explains that he wants to
make the orchestrated effort appear to be the work of
unaffiliated individuals. Thus he advises that "There is
no need to advertise the fact that we have these group
discussions."
Anticipating possible objections to CAMERA's scheme, Ini
conjectures that "Anti-Israel editors will seize on any-
thing to try to discredit people who attempt to challenge
their problematic assertions, and will be all too happy
to pretend, and announce, that a 'Zionist' cabal (the same
one that controls the banks and Hollywood?) is trying to
hijack Wikipedia."
But stealth and misrepresentation are presented as the keys
to success. Ini suggests that after volunteers sign up as
editors for Wikipedia they should "avoid editing Israel-
related articles for a short period of time." This strategy
is intended to "avoid the appearance of being one-topic
editors," thus attracting unwanted attention.
Ini counsels that volunteers "might also want to avoid,
for obvious reasons, picking a user name that marks you
as pro-Israel, or that lets people know your real name."
To further conceal the identity of CAMERA-organized
editors, Ini warns, "don't forget to always log in before
making [edits]. If you make changes while not logged in,
Wikipedia will record your computer's IP address" -- a
number that allows identification of the location of a
computer connected to the Internet.
A veteran Wikipedia editor, known as "Zeq," who according
to the emails is colluding with CAMERA, also provided
advice to CAMERA volunteers on how they could disguise
their agenda. In a 20 March email often in misspelled
English, Zeq writes, "You don't want to be precived [sic]
as a 'CAMERA' defender' on wikipedia [sic] that is for
sure." One strategy to avoid that is to "edit articles
at random, make friends not enemies -- we will need them
later on. This is a marathon not a sprint."
Zeq also identifies, in a 25 March email, another Wikipedia
editor, "Jayjg," whom he views as an effective and
independent pro-Israel advocate. Zeq instructs CAMERA
operatives to work with and learn from Jayjg, but not to
reveal the existence of their group even to him fearing
"it would place him in a bind" since "[h]e is very loyal
to the wikipedia [sic] system" and might object to CAMERA's
underhanded tactics.
"Uninvolved administrators"
The emphasis on secrecy is apparently not only to aid the
undetected editing of articles, but also to facilitate
CAMERA's takeover of key administrator positions in
Wikipedia.
For Zeq a key goal is to have CAMERA operatives elected
as administrators -- senior editors who can override the
decisions of others when controversies arise. When disputes
arise about hotly contested topics, such as Israel and
Palestine, often only an "uninvolved administrator" -- one
who is considered neutral because he or she has not edited
or written articles on the topic -- can arbitrate.
Hence, Zeq advises in a 21 March email that "One or more
of you who want to take this route should stay away from
any Israel realted [sic] articles for one month until
they [sic] interact in a positive way with 100 wikipedia
[sic] editors who would be used later to vote you as an
administrator."
Once these CAMERA operatives have successfully infiltrated
as "neutral" editors, they could then exercise their
privileges to assert their own political agenda.
In addition, Zeq suggests making deliberately provocative
edits to Palestine-related articles. He hopes that editors
he assumes are Palestinian will delete these changes, and
then CAMERA operatives could report them to administrators
so they could be sanctioned and have their editing
privileges suspended.
-----------------------------------------------------------
SOLE CLEANER & MASSAGE MAT
Clean & Comfort Your Sole...
Normal Price: $14.99
DEAL PRICE: $5.99
Get 2 for $9.98
This unique foot massager mat features two (2) types of
flexible bristles that clean your feet and stimulates blood
circulation. Also, it has a built-in embedded pumice stone
to rid dead cells on the hard skin on your sole.
The suction cups underneath the base will allow an easy fix
to shower floor. And when its not in use you can hang it
on a hook or attach it to the side of the shower.
Now you clean your soles and enjoy a comfortable foot
massage every time you take a shower!... Makes An
Excellent Gift.
Get one for $5.99... or get two (2) for $9.98. To order,
visit: http://pd.gophercentral.com/r/120/a/504/l/ud4ho1
SOLE CLEANER & MASSAGE MAT
-----------------------------------------------------------
Passing propaganda as fact
Gilead Ini's 17 March email provides specific advice on
how to pass off pro-Israel propaganda or opinion as fact
meeting Wikipedia's strict guidelines:
"So, for example, imagine that you get rid of or modify
a problematic sentence in an article alleging that
'Palestinian [sic] become suicide bombers to respond to
Israel's oppressive policies.' You should, in parallel
leave a comment on that article's discussion page (either
after or before making the change). Avoid defending
the edit by arguing that 'Israel's policies aren't
'oppression,' they are defensive. And anyway Palestinians
obviously become suicide bombers for other reasons for
example hate education!' Instead, describe how this sentence
violates Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. One of the
core principles is that assertions should adhere to a
Neutral Point of View, usually abbreviated NPOV. (The
opposite of NPOV is POV, or Point of View, which is
basically another way of saying subjective statement, or
opinion.) So it would be best to note on the discussion
page that 'This sentence violates Wikipedia's NPOV policy,
since the description of Israel's policies as 'oppressive'
is an opinion. In addition, it is often noted by Middle
East experts that one of the reasons Palestinians decide
to become suicide bombers is hate education and
glorification of martyrdom in Palestinian society...'"
In fact, there have been numerous studies debunking claims
about Palestinian "hate education," or "glorification of
martyrdom" causing suicide bombings (such as Dying to Win
by University of Chicago political scientist Robert Pape)
though this claim remains a favorite canard of pro-Israel
activists seeking to distract attention from the effects
of Israel's occupation and other well-documented and
systematic human rights abuses in fueling violence.
Zeq specifically names articles targeted for this kind of
treatment including those on the 1948 Palestinian Exodus,
Causes of the 1948 Palestinian exodus, Hamas, Hizballah,
Arab citizens of Israel, anti-Zionism, al-Nakba, the
Palestinian people, and the Palestinian right of return.
Interestingly the CAMERA editors also target the article
on the early Islamic period concept of Dhimmi, a protected
status for non-Muslims which historically allowed Jews to
thrive in Muslim-ruled lands while other Jews were being
persecuted in Christian Europe. Pro-Israel activists have
often tried to portray the concept of Dhimmi as akin to
the Nuremberg laws in order to denigrate Muslim culture
and justify ahistorical Zionist claims that Jews could
never live safely in majority Muslim countries.
Also among the emails is a discussion about how to alter
the article on the massacre of Palestinian civilians in
the village of Deir Yassin by Zionist militiamen on 9 April
1948. Unable to debunk the facts of the massacre outright,
the CAMERA activists hunt for quotes from "reputable
historians" who can cast doubt on it. Their strategy is
not dissimilar from those who attempt to present evolution,
or global climate change as "controversial" regardless of
the weight of the scientific evidence, simply because the
facts do not accord with their belief system.
Zeq has already made extensive edits to the Wikipedia
article on Rachel Corrie, the American peace activist
murdered by an Israeli soldier in the occupied Gaza Strip
on 16 March 2003. As a result of these and other edits
Zeq has himself been a controversial figure among Wikipedia
editors, suggesting his own stealth tactics may not be
working.
"We will go to war"
Zeq, however, counsels CAMERA operatives to be patient and
lie low until they build up their strength. "We will go
to war after we have build our army, equiped it trained
[sic]," he wrote on 9 April. "So please if you want to
win this war help us build ou[r] army. let's not just rush
in and achieve nothing, or abit more than nothing [sic]."
DOWNLOAD CAMERA'S EMAILS:
http://electronicintifada.net/downloads/pdf/080421-camera-wikipedia.pdf
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