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