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Wiki-Warriors ... correcting false, anti-Israeli information on Wikipedia and giving Israel credit where it's due.

Patrizia 12 years ago • updated by Israelize (head designer at israelize) 11 years ago • 19
In a recent seminar, I have heard of from a lawyer who's very  involved in correcting anti-Israeli / Anti-Semitic misinformation on Wikipedia that despite the clear need for this, there's hardly anyone doing it. 

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jsfi70 12 years ago

This is an extremely important idea.  There are also hate groups on Facebook as well; it would be a good idea to form a Facebook committee as well.

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Patrizia 12 years ago
I agree. facebook may be even easier.  Editing wiki-pages requires some knowledge of the rules etc....however, I could probably arrange an online workshop with that person I mentioned. He is teaching this and he is looking for support!
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Israelize (head designer at israelize) 12 years ago
Great point.  We could have one team for Facebook and another for Wikipedia.
 

 

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Amy 12 years ago
This is a great idea! I never considered this.
I agree with you that knowledge of how to do those things is required. I also think that more knowledge of how to correct the anti-Israel misinformation and what to replace it with is equally important. I am all for getting rid of the lies and setting up the truth, but I don't feel I have enough "real" information yet to do that. I think the first step to this is to educate ourselves and those around us, to better equip us for this task.
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Patrizia 12 years ago
Amy,

thanks for your encouraging comment. Of course, this is not a task you can't easily do if you feel not knowledgeable enough on the details, facts etc. Waiting until everyone of us IS, however, is not realistic either and I don't think it is necessary.  That's why I'd suggest the following concept:

1. You have a core team of people who are very knowledgeable on the facts and the technical side of editing such pages. Many Israel advocates are exactly this, some of them even having the relevant academic background (history, politics etc.)

2. You develop a system in which other people (who are more, or less knowledgeable, maybe with more knowledge in there area of expertise) can bring to the core team's attention any misinformation they came across on wiki, facebook etc. with feedback on what's wrong with it...

3. You don't only want to correct information. You want to add positive messages about Israel. That includes updates on sport events, business or even really general stuff such as - Imagine you run a search for the word "cafe" or "academia" and somewhere on the wiki-page you read "more cafes / PhDs / Universities / etc. per capita in Israel than anywhere else" ... something like that. We all can do that.

In other words, this is also about spreading good connotations about Israel to those people who may not be anti, who don't know anything about Israel, the conflict etc.  It's about getting the positive messages heard disconnected from all the fighting against injustices vis-a-vis Israel. Ignore that side for a second, get the positive stuff out there.
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Israelize (head designer at israelize) 12 years ago
It seems like we need a team, or a 'Tribe' to form around this idea and start implementing this on Wikipedia. I like the "adding positive messages as well".

Start a TRIBE and I will work to get others to join this tribe to build this so we are doing this soon.
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Patrizia 12 years ago
Andrew,

agreed! Let's see who'd want to do this. How many people etc. Then I can get in touch with that guy who has experience with this and try to organize an online workshop. What do you think?
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mmoline 12 years ago
I think this is an awesome idea as well.  We could maybe even assign certain pages to teams of two people who could both check those to ensure accuracy.
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Patrizia 12 years ago
I like this idea! To begin with, which pages do you have in mind?
Israelize (head designer at israelize) 12 years ago
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Israelize (head designer at israelize) 12 years ago
Let's and try and get this hatched soon. Let's try to get a team of 6 and attempt one correction/addition per week. Who is willing to begin taking action here? Who is able to edit Wikipedia articles?

Here is a great "how-to" guide. Every edit I will post on twitter/facebook to encourage those willing to do it.

Mmoline, would you be interested in being the tribal leader for "wiki warriors"? :)
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Julia Salazar 12 years ago
I'd definitely like to help! I stumble across articles pretty often that are blatantly biased - and unacademic, since they make false statements about Israel and lack sources.

I'm going to check it out now and when I find something/am able to edit something, I'll post a link to it here!
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mmoline 12 years ago
I would be willing to be involved in this project.  I am not familiar with editing wikipedia pages, however.  Also, what does being a tribal leader entail?  Let me know your thoughts, thanks!
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Israelize (head designer at israelize) 12 years ago
Here is a link on how to do this in Wikipedia. Pretty straightforward - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:How_to_edit_a_page 

We can report back here the pages that need changes.
Amie Bailey 12 years ago
i think this is a great idea! however, it is not always easy for two reasons. first, many pages are semi-protected or protected, resulting in a sometimes lengthy process for gaining approval. second, if the page is not protected, and editing is allowed, information you edit can just as easily be reversed by another editor. i have an account with wikipedia that gives me a some leeway with editing and would be more than happy to help!
Joseph Joel Sherman 12 years ago
Israel needs this!

 

Claire Friedman Bennett 11 years ago
My son was doing this and got suspended for  6 months.  He said the owners were anti-Israel.


Julia Sal 11 years ago

I must say, I do not believe that "the owners" (that is, Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia) are anti-Israel or anti-Semitic at all. Wales is actively engaged with the international Jewish community and he was a speaker at the Israeli Presidential Conference:

http://www.israellycool.com/2012/03/25/wikipedias-jimmy-wales-rips-anti-israel-lebanese-man-a-new-one/

Wikipedia has some pretty strict rules that have been enacted in order to protect users and prevent spam - even rules for which the purpose is not always apparent...

Gerald McGlone 11 years ago

Why not create a new site dedicated to correcting false info.  Call it the Wiki Fixi.

Copy and paste information in question concerning Israel to the new site and include the correct info.  I'm sure ther must be a clever website designer who could make it happen.  


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Carney S T Ann 11 years ago


I have been doing this for a while.  I save articles and facts and when I see lies in articles or in people's comments, I correct them and give some positive facts about Israel and Jews and I copy and paste the link that I have saved to the factual article to back it up.  I can't bear to see lies and negative false statements being made against Jews and Israel.  God has laid the Jews and Israel on my heart for years...since 2000 or maybe even 1997 and I have been doing this ever since.  I can't stop if I wanted to.  I know it is an urging from the Lord.  THere's no other explanation for it.  I'm not Jewish.  Just a person saved by Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ, Yeshua Hamashiach.  HE must be the driving force.  I love Israel and the Jews and pray for you daily.  I hate to see what Obama is doing to hurt Israel and America. 

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