User talk:Johntheschmo

Introduction to contentious topics

You have recently edited a page related to the Arab–Israeli conflict, a topic designated as contentious. This is a brief introduction to contentious topics and does not imply that there are any issues with your editing.

A special set of rules applies to certain topic areas, which are referred to as contentious topics. These are specially designated topics that tend to attract more persistent disruptive editing than the rest of the project and have been designated as contentious topics by the Arbitration Committee. When editing a contentious topic, Wikipedia’s norms and policies are more strictly enforced, and Wikipedia administrators have special powers in order to reduce disruption to the project.

Within contentious topics, editors should edit carefully and constructively, refrain from disrupting the encyclopedia, and:

adhere to the purposes of Wikipedia;
comply with all applicable policies and guidelines;
follow editorial and behavioural best practice;
comply with any page restrictions in force within the area of conflict; and
refrain from gaming the system.

Additionally, you must be logged-in, have 500 edits and an account age of 30 days, and are not allowed to make more than 1 revert within 24 hours on a page within this topic.

Editors are advised to err on the side of caution if unsure whether making a particular edit is consistent with these expectations. If you have any questions about contentious topics procedures you may ask them at the arbitration clerks' noticeboard or you may learn more about this contentious topic here. You may also choose to note which contentious topics you know about by using the {{Ctopics/aware}} template.

_signed,Rosguill ^talk 14:30, 22 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Welcome!

Hi Johntheschmo! I noticed your contributions and wanted to welcome you to the Wikipedia community. I hope you like it here and decide to stay.

I've noticed that you've expressed an interest in the Arab–Israeli conflict. Unfortunately, due to a history of conflict and disruptive editing it has been designated a contentious topic and is subject to some strict rules.

The rule that affects you most as a new or IP editor is the prohibition on making any edit related to the Arab–Israel conflict unless you are logged into an account and that account is at least 30 days old and has made at least 500 edits.

This prohibition is broadly construed, so it includes edits such as adding the reaction of a public figure concerning the conflict to their article or noting the position of a company or organization as it relates to the conflict.

The exception to this rule is that you may request a specific change to an article on the talk page of that article or at this page. Please ensure that your requested edit complies with our neutral point of view and reliable sourcing policies, and if the edit is about a living person our policies on biographies of living people as well.

Any edits you make contrary to these rules are likely to be reverted, and repeated violations can lead to you being blocked from editing.

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Happy editing! ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 14:35, 22 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I've got to second what ScottishFinnishRadish said above. You are showing a basic misundertanding of Wikipedia with your current contributions. Try and edit some other areas for a month at least unil you qualify to edit in the area - and hopefully you'll start understanding how Wikipedia is a community project and that you have to work with other people who might have different views to your own - and perhaps you might even work towards the objective of making a free reliable encyclopaedia. NadVolum (talk) 11:45, 24 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the reply. I suppose I do have a basic misunderstanding of Wikipedia: I'd thought admins were around to enforce policies that ensure that all views are heard fairly and that articles don't get hijacked by those with specific agendas. I've asked for clarification regarding how the incident I described is not in violation but the only response I've gotten so far is to edit it back myself. By this logic, I (and others) can write whatever misleading nonsense I want, repeatedly, with no consequences. That doesn't sound right to me but apparently no one else cares.

Good luck figuring out this mess once it spreads to topics you care about. Johntheschmo (talk) 07:42, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The topic area has special rules. They are described above. Editors without the extended confirmed privilege, such as yourself, are limited to making simple, straightforward edit requests, preferably requests that follow the WP:EDITXY guideline. You seem to be interested in the Zionism article. I encourage you to read through the discussions on the article's talk page. An important thing to understand is that we are not reliable sources. Personal opinions about Zionism shouldn't matter here. Article content should be constructed by following Wikipedia's rules. There are many experienced editors working on that article so you could learn a lot by reading through the discussions. Sean.hoyland (talk) 08:34, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you - I actually did just take a look through the talk page and saw the heavy discussion surrounding the specific sentence I mentioned: "Zionists wanted to create a Jewish state in Palestine with as much land, as many Jews, and as few Palestinian Arabs as possible."

I know I'm new here and thus don't have any sway but if we treat this as a generic example - why hasn't the sentence been removed or edited to reflect that it is the opinion of a critic rather than fact, as a few contributors have suggested? Johntheschmo (talk) 08:47, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not involved in editing that article so I'm not sure, but it is probably because the statement is currently supported by many sources. I don't know what kind of device you are using but if you either hover over or click reference [5] at the end of the statement you can see all of the sources with quotations. Alternatively, have a look at this link. Sean.hoyland (talk) 09:29, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]