[WikiEN-l] Shades of Rashomon

Tue Jan 13 15:15:14 UTC 2004

Viajero wrote:

> Several of us were discussing the topic on the IRC channel in 
> December (Anthere may remember this because she was one of 
> them) and this question came up. One person said they thought 
> WP (EN) had a pro-Israeli bias. Another said a pro-Palestinian 
> bias. A third said neither POV was accurately represented.

I haven't seen Rashomon, but I understand the reference: 
three or more people saw the same event and give widely 
divergent accounts of it. I think this cuts to the core 
of the difficulty in describing Middle East history and 
current events.

Who among us can see without using a mental filter? I do 
not claim this ability. Despite my high estimate of my 
own objectivity, I am uncomfortably aware that from time 
to time I am simply WRONG.

I daresay portions of articles are indeed tinged (or 
infected) with pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian bias. We 
might never eliminate either of these biases entirely. 
But we can work at it.

The key is identification: if it smells, change it. 
Refactor the article so that it says the same thing but 
/attributes/ POV to its proponent. I don't know why this 
is so hard, but (A) it really is hard and (B) it really 
is important.

Let's do it.

Ed Poor, aka Uncle Ed