Gareth Owen wrote:
Your original draft of this article was composed of as many of the former as you could muster, and none of the latter. Then you represented these views as if they were the incontrovertible and steadfast beliefs of the entire Palestinian population (can you imagine an article entitled "US views of the Iraq Conflict" that suggested such a united front -- laughable.)
I can't speak on the original draft of the article, but in any event we are not now arguing about the original draft, but an edit war which broke out recently between Danny and Zero000 on the one hand, and RK on the other hand, about a large block of text that does not in any way meet the description that you give here.
You did these things because you are -- like all of us -- are utterly incapable of being impartial in things that concern you closely.
That's why it was POV.
But I think that this is unfair to RK (and all of us), and in particular this is unfair to the specific block of text in question. That block of text was not perfect, it could stand improvement, but we must not imagine that the text was anything other than what it was.
Self-evidently, if you read it, it was exactly what RK has said it was... a genuine effort to collect and present a variety of views that have been expressed by prominent Palestinians. For each quote, a certain degree of context was provided. For the entire set, care was taken to note where views (of Arafat, say) have changed, and so on.
Danny, like you, has a problem with RK. But in the current instance, this portrayal of the particular text in question is wrong. It isn't a one-sided screed at all. It cites reputable sources. It presents different viewpoints. It shows clearly that Palestinian views are diverse.
Maybe there are some egregious problems with the text that I haven't understood yet. But we should be careful to look at it with a fresh eye, and not misunderstand what's going on here, which is Danny engaging in deleting text repeatedly while refusing to work with someone who is very much trying to write a balanced text.
--Jimbo