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 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 wanted to keep the effort secret from the media, the public, and Wikipedia administrators:
A veteran Wikipedia editor on this list has suggested that, after setting up your account, avoid editing Israel-related articles for a short period of time; or in the very least, try to edit articles unrelated to Israel more than articles related to Israel. This isn’t a bad idea, not only to avoid the appearance of being one-topic editors, but also because it would be easier to practice editing, and to learn about Wikipedia, far from the Mideast hornet’s nest. You might practice by visiting and editing articles about other topics that interest you. Editing could mean simply fixing typos and grammar, or it could mean adding (footnoted) sentences to these topics. This way, you can gain experience without having anti-Israel partisans jumping down your throat. When signing up for a Wikipedia account, you 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. Anonymity is an accepted part of Wikipedia. Also, for the sake of greater anonymity, don’t forget to always log in before making changes. If you make changes while not logged in, Wikipedia will record your computer’s IP address.
Information obtained by EI indicates that while Gilead Ini claimed that more than 50 volunteers had come forward to participate in CAMERA’s plan, and the group had set its sights on creating dozens of new editors and administrators over a long period of time, fewer than a dozen were active at the time EI exposed the scheme. Because the effort was apparently in its early stages, only a handful had become active as Wikipedia editors.
LOL.
I love stories about enthusiasm triumphing over common sense.
If someone produced a camera with the attributes of Camera it would be impossible to focus on anything closer to, or farther from, the lens than the user’s navel. Nor would it be capable of photographing anything larger.
If the breathless ideologues at Camera proceed with this goofy stunt it will merely confirm what every-one already knows. Pro-Israelers ran out of ideas 10 years ago because they’ve been hopelessly seduced by their own propaganda.
It’s hardly surprising that Camera dreamed up this little piece of inanity. Anyone who takes Wiki as Gospel without checking the ‘facts’ independently is too feeble-minded to be taken seriously.