After
a rightist group opened the first-ever
Zionist editing group aimed at defending
Israel on Wikipedia, a Palestinian
organization plans to create (more)
After a rightist group
opened the first-ever Zionist editing group
aimed at defending Israel on Wikipedia, a
Palestinian organization plans to create its
own Wikipedia editing program.
Palestinian Journalists Syndicate head Abdul
Nasser An-Najjar told the Bethlehem-based
Ma’an news agency that his organization
plans to set up editing groups to counter
attempts to present Israel's view on
Wikipedia. He urged the Palestinian
Authority to take part in the initiative.
An-Najjar warned that the next regional war
would be a “media war,†adding that
online information on the Israeli- Arab conflict shapes
world opinion.
Last week the Yesha Council and the Yisrael
Sheli (My Israel) organization opened a
course to address the problem of what it
referred to as pro-Arab bias on Wikipedia.
In a one-day seminar, lecturers taught
dozens of participants how to ensure that
Israel's view is presented on the online
encyclopedia.
Ayelet Shaked of Yisrael Sheli told the
Guardian that the problem is that online,
pro-Israeli activists are vastly outnumbered
by pro-Palestinian voices. "We don't want to
give this arena to the other side," she
said. "But we are so few and they are so
many. People in the US and Europe never hear
about Israel's side, with all the correct
arguments and explanations."
Shaked said the Israeli government is "not
doing a very good job" of explaining Israel
to the world. |
