I am an Israeli-American lawyer, a member of the Israel Bar and New York Bar.
I'm taking a break from Wikipedia and trying Citizendium
because some editors surf Wikipedia deliberately deleting articles they consider unfavorable to Israel, falsely and deceitfully waving "WP policies" such as "no original research" or "non-notability" (meaning, since we don't want people to hear about it, it's "non-notable");
because it's a huge waste of time arguing with people with no journalistic experience who do not understand the difference between reporting about controversial opinions and making controversial opinions. For example:
These angry people could not tolerate a short, objective, neutral article about an open letter of 105 notable British Jews and former Israelis who published a statement in The Guardian (you can read it here) a week before the 60th anniversary of Israel explaining why they will not be celebrating Israeli Independence Day. The letter touched upon very controversial and explosive subjects, commenting on such important subjects as the Holocaust, the Nakba, ethnic cleansing, human rights violations, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and peace process. It was reported in Israel's largest online daily newspaper YNEThere, and caused the Israeli government to issue an official statement (needless to say, harshly criticizing the opinions expressed in the letter). It must be noted here that my article did not agree or disagree with the opinions of these Jews as expressed in their open letter. My article strictly reported, in the most neutral tone possible, the publication of this open letter, the content of the letter, the response, and follow-up letters and statements that sprang up from other orgnaizations, such as Jewish Voice for Peace.
But then came the self-appointed censors, intimidators and gatekeepers who could not stand to read about Jews having critical opinions of Israel, and claimed this article should be deleted, using a very amorphous, fluid, and undefinable criteria called a "non-notable event."
When 105 Jews, from varios walks of life, can all agree on the same draft of a politically-oriented letter - that in itself is a notable event! And if you don't understand that - you have never tried to get more than 10 Jews to sign on anything. If you don't see why any 100 Jews agreeing on such a controversial subject is notable, you are out of touch with reality, with Jewish culture, and with Jewish politics. Most certainly, you've never heard the Jewish humorous folklore about the lone Jewish survivor of a shipwrecked boat who found himself stranded on an island and realizing he needed a shul, went and built two separate shuls...But let's leave that aside. The fact is this letter, published by prominent Jews -- academics, writers, playwrights, scientists, directors, community leaders, activists who are proud of their Jewish identity -- is unprecedented. No one can possibly make the plausible argument this is something trivial that has already occurred many times in the past.
Nonetheless, this bizarre, ridiculous, far-fetched argument of "non-notability" started a debate, and caused a huge waste of time. Other (mostly Jewish) editors/censors/gatekeepers jumped at this opportunity to be able to monitor what people are allowed to read, and erase from the public marketplace any evidence that Jews have differing opinions on the questions of Zionism, the State of Israel, the treatment of Palestinians, Jewish obligations and the like. And so, after a monumental waste of time in which no one contribued anything positive to knowledge about the world, people or opinions (except my hours spent on gathering reliable sources and writing about this event) - the article is gone.
It's a waste of time arguing with such editors, e.g. Shuki, Jason Schwartz who have a political agenda and make inappropriate deletions or changes without checking sources or consulting with others. This results in the current state of poorly-written, poorly-sourced, biased, and inaccurate articles about issues realting to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Zionism, and the history of the Jewish people (as opposed to articles on general subjects which are on a much higher level).
Instead of adding articles about Israeli accomplishments, events or notable people (and there are so many) these editors spend their time censoring other editors' work, destroying other editors' articles, and patrolling WP as WP's self-proclaimed gatekeepers. They will follow you whereever you go, and monitor your every step, acting in way that threatens anyone who does not subscribe to their worldview, undermines the encyclopedic quality of WP and compromises the integrity of WP articles.
I do not want to waste my time and energy fighting these types of editors who go around deleting, changing, and destroying other editors' work.
It's time to consider contributing at Citizendium:
“
We are creating the world's most trusted encyclopedia and knowledge base.
The general public and experts collaborate, using their real names.
”
I recommend the same to all openminded, serious, knowledgable editors who prefer not to waste their precious time in frivolous edit wars and ridiculous, endless fights with immature or biased editors.
