[Foundation-l] Racism in Commons

[Robert Rohde]

On Wed, Mar 5, 2008 at 1:24 PM, Yoni Weiden <yonidebest at gmail.com> wrote:

> We are not asking to remove the images from Commons, but to remove them
> from
> such galleries. How can we refer our readers to "Pictures of Ariel Sharon"
> when such pictures are displayed in the page?
> <snip>
>

If you don't like the gallery on Commons, there is no technical reason why
he.wiki can't create its own "Gallery of Ariel Sharon images" page using the
images from Commons that you do like.

Whether or not that solution appeals to he.wiki will of course depend on
your local policies, which I know absolutely nothing about.

On a general, structural level, I think it makes sense for materials on
Commons to continue to be organized by content without trying to
differentiate material by partisan agenda.  Surely you agree they are images
related to "Ariel Sharon", right?  So from the point of view of a media
repository, they should be organized as such.

But we both also agree that the cartoons are intended to be offensive to
Sharon and his supporters.  So if the he.wiki community thinks they are
inappropriate to be linked from his he.wiki article, then don't link
them.  That sounds fine to me.  As for calling a "boycott", etc.  I don't
see the point of the rhetoric.  There has never been an expectation that all
content on Commons will be useful to everyone in all applications.

-Robert Rohde