Wikipedia:WikiProject Sri Lanka Reconciliation
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Purpose
Goals
- To provide guidelines and recommendations for articles that describe all aspects relating to the Neutral coverage of the Sri Lankan Crisis
- To improve Wikipedia's coverage of the ongoing ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka by creating, expanding, and maintaining such articles.
- To prevent large scale vandalism of LTTE and Sri Lankan government related articles and maintain the articles to convey a neutral perspective of the issue.
- To actively seek the cooperation of goodwilling people with different POVs as specified under membership.
proposed:
- To resolve conflicts between editors, e.g. by mediation and by providing specific guidelines for conflict resolution.
Dreams, hopes, and visions
This section contains statements by individual members that summarize what each of us wants to achieve with this project. To help reconcile and fuse these into concrete goals, everybody is invited to discus these in the talk page section Dreams, hopes, and visions.
Sebastian's dream
Originally posted 23:16, 24 January 2007 (UTC)
With this project, I want to create a firm middle ground. The middle ground is always despised by extremists of both sides, and it's so fragile! It's not that there are not enough people in the middle; it's just that they are so afraid - and rightly so: One wrong movement and you got all the extremists of one side against you. I've had baseless accusations thrown at me, and I don't want to think about what would have happened if I lived in Sri Lanka. Moreover, nobody can be exactly in the middle, because how would you define that anyway? On top of that, everybody wants to claim that they are in the middle, so people are very distrustful when they hear that. So, even honest, thoughtful people align themselves with one side, rather than the middle.
But there is hope. To see it, we all need a different mindset. Instead of staring fearfully at two estranged gangs, we need to raise our view to see and value courageous people. People who dare to break the box in which the extremists want to put them. People who do not just take pride in being Sinhalese or Tamil, but also in being openminded. If this ideal becomes our paradigm, then we, the middle, will find our own identity.
And it can work. We will gain strength through a virtuous cycle: We will help and encourage people who move towards the middle, and each person we help will strengthen us. We will accept real people, not our ideals of them. Not even the extremists are ideal extremists! Even a sockpuppeteer or a POV fighter can have moments when he feels some sympathy for the other side. What happens now, when someone shows these feelings? His own "friends" will call him a traitor! He needs real friends! People who see the good in him, and help him. We will be a group of knights who help those in need, and who take pride in doing so. I want the membership in this group to become a badge of honor. That is my mission. — Sebastian
Raveen's hope
Originally posted 14:06, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
This project [...] is a hope that people can reconcile even in the midst of a bloody carnage. I am a living witness to all dead bodies around me when I was a child, my wife even today cannot watch war movies because it brings back memories of indiscriminate bombing of Jaffna peninsula. This is simply one sided of the story. It took me a long time to come to conclusion about the futility of it all but if some one is somewhere on that same long path but has not reached the conclusion yet but still wants to chat to see whether his/her beliefs and doubts can be reconciled that person should be given 1000% chance. [...]
The more I think about it in reality this forum or club’s primary (but unstated) goal is to function as a place to acclimatize emotionally charged new Sri Lanka centric Wikipedians about following Wikipedia rules. Most who have been around 6 months or are no longer overtly partisan or overtly disruptive even if they harbor malicious feelings about each other. That is a good equilibrium to achieve. All what this forum can do is to point such emotionally charged editors that hey look what we have achieved why don’t you try it ? If we are perssitant, they will and may be become members too. RaveenS 14:06, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
Members
The group welcomes editors with different POVs, but members have to prove their willingness for non-aggressive conversation. This excludes members who have recently engaged in edit wars or sockpuppeteering.
To apply for membership, please apply in the member section of the talk page. Members may have questions or concerns regarding your application. Please indicate if you prefer them to be discussed by e-mail.
Members are encouraged, but not required to follow conflict-reducing principles or practices, such as WP:1RR. If a member decides to follow such a principle, he or she can list it under "Principles".
| Member | Principles |
|---|---|
| SebastianHelm (talk · contribs) | 1RR, NVC, PINOT |
| Lahiru_k (talk · contribs) | |
| RaveenS (talk · contribs) | |
| Kerr avon (talk · contribs) | |
| Sharz (talk · contribs) |
Guidelines
This chapter contains drafts for guidelines we would like to agree on in the project.
Cool editing
How to avoid a revert war
Here's a list of what you can do when you see some edit that you feel you need to revert:
- Relax. Take a deep breath. It won't harm anyone if you wait an hour. Maybe someone else reverts it in the mean time. Or maybe the other editor clarifies his edit, making it less offensive. Please allow everyone room to breathe.
- If an unsourced statement has been inserted, add {{fact}} or a related template. *
- If the statement is sourced from a source that has not been established as RS, you can add {{biased source}}, or tag it with one of the proposed qualifications (see below). **
- Conversely, if someone adds {{biased source}} to a reference you provided, please don't remove it, but discuss it on the talk page.
- If something has been deleted, please try to understand why it has been deleted.
- If the summary says something like "unsourced", you can add it back with a {{fact}} tag.***
- If the summary says something like "your source is not a reliable source", you can add it back with a {{biased source}} tag, or by tagging it with one of the proposed qualifications (see below). **
- If there is no edit summary, you can revert it with the summary "rv unexplained deletion"
- If the edit includes unsourced defamation of living people, you can revert it (Please write "rv per WP:BLP" in the summary.)
- Tell us about it. If something happened that's not in this list, or if you feel something was really outrageous, you can just leave a message on the talk page. We will do our best to mediate. But please be patient - don't expect help the same day.
| * | In case you're looking at the template description: Please just disregard it. That description does not fit to our situation, because both sides habitually feel that anything the other side writes is very harmful, which makes that feeling a bad guide. |
| ** | This is only a temporary solution; it might be better to avoid these cases until we have a permanent solution. It may help calm down the other side if you refer to this conversation. |
| *** | Please make the other side aware that you're adding the tag as a compromise. People tend to overlook such details and then get unjustly upset. |
How to convince people in the middle
In discussions on the talk page, you can type till your fingers bleed, but you can't force the opposing extremists to accept your POV. However, if you write smartly, you can sway the people in the middle.
Many people who feel strongly about an issue just let their anger be their guide. While this may sometimes work by intimidating others so that they stay clear of an issue, it more often backfires: It usually only scares away the moderate people, while extremists of the other camp, who love this sort of personal fights, join the debate. Thus, the issue you wanted to bring across gets drowned out by mutual accusations. Few Wikipedians want to read this; most switch to another page when they sense more anger than reason.
A better way is to write with the moderate person in mind. Think about how you can make your discussion contribution interesting to the average Wikipedian. As soon as you convince a few reasonable Wikipedians, your cause is winning.
Classification of sources
See discussion
The purpose of this classification is to provide a guideline for mediation. In content disputes and edit wars, the mediator will, as a first approximation, revert to the version, or create a version that is based on this list. In the absence of other reasons for or against certain passages the first approximation version is defined by all and only those texts that are RS or explicitly attributed QS.
Classes of sources:
- RS = Reliable sources
- These can always be used without explicit attribution.
- QS = Qualified sources
- These can always be used with explicit attribution. Wording should be: The pro-Faction Source reports that ... (where Faction and Source are placeholders that will be replaced with the appropriate names).
- UnRS = Unreliable sources
- Can usually not be used. Individual exceptions possible if all project members agree.
- UnclasS = Unclassified sources
- Treated like UnRS.
List of sources
The following list is a very quickly written draft; please discuss it on the talk page. Redlinks here don't necessarily mean that an article should be created, it only indicates that we don't have one. The column "attribution" displays how we recommend the source should be qualified in the text.
| Source | Homepage | Classification | Attribution | Remark / reason for classification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amnesty International | amnesty.org | RS | none | archived vote |
| AsianTimes | Asian Times | UnclasS | ||
| Asian Tribune | Asian Tribune.com | QS | anti-rebel | Should not be used to establish notability [1] |
| BBC | bbc.co.uk | RS | none | archived vote |
| disappearances.org | disappearances.org | UnclasS | ||
| Human Rights Internet | hri.ca | RS | none | archived vote |
| Human Rights Watch | HRW | UnclasS | ||
| InfoLanka | infolanka.com | UnclasS | ||
| satp.org | satp.org | QS (anti-rebel) | could be UnRS - see discussion | |
| Scoop | scoop.co.nz | UnclasS | ||
| Sri Lanka Monitor | Sri Lanka Monitor | UnclasS | ||
| Tamilnet | Tamilnet.com | QS | pro-rebel | Tamilnet#Controversy, [2] |
| US Dep't of State | state.gov usembassy.gov |
RS | none | archived vote |
| UTHR | UTHR | RS | none | archived vote |
|- | [[]] | [http://www. ] | UnclasS | |
Other activities
Sri Lanka Reconciliation Barnstar
The group awards a special barnstar to editors who have shown a serious effort to decrease the conflict on Sri Lanka related articles. Such awards have to be by consensus among members.
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The Sri Lanka Reconciliation Barnstar | |
| For your merits in Sri Lanka reconciliation {{{diff1}}}{{{diff2}}}{{{diff3}}}, the WikiProject Sri Lanka Reconciliation herewith presents you this Sri Lanka specific barnstar, which is the blossom of one of the world's most loved drinks.
To keep a cool head in one of the world's hottest conflicts deserves our highest respect! {{{Signature}}} |
List of Recipients
| Recipient | Awarded for (diffs) | Date (UTC) |
|---|---|---|
| Lahiru k (talk · contribs) | [3][4][5] | 08:33, 27 January 2007 |
| Rajsingam (talk · contribs) | [6][7][8] | 08:33, 27 January 2007 |
| Shunpiker (talk · contribs) | [9][10][11], | 14:30, 30 January 2007 |
Tools
Project Banner
The {{Banner WPSLR}} project banner template should be added (not subst:ed) to the talk page of every article within the scope of the project. The template does not require any additional parameters.
If you add this banner to an article, please also include that article in watchall so it will show up in our watchlist.
 | Sri Lanka Reconciliation (defunct) | |||
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Userbox for the members
The WikiProject User Box: {{User WPSLR}}
 | This user is a proud member of WikiProject Sri Lanka Reconciliation. |
Welcome message for new users
The template {{Welcome SLR}} is designed to welcome new users who showed an interest in Sri Lanka. Please use it whenever you spot a new user - it guides them to our project and it makes Wikipedia a friendlier place overall!
Example: This code:
==Welcome!==
{{subst:Welcome SLR|name=Amda|~~~~}}
creates the text in the following box:
(I'm cheating a bit. See the template description for a full description of parameters.)
Welcome!
Hello Amda, welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Our Introduction contains a lot of helpful material for new users - please check it out! If you need general help, check out Wikipedia:Questions or place {{helpme}} on this page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions.
I noticed that you showed an interest in Sri Lanka related articles. Please take a look at WikiProject Sri Lanka Reconciliation, a bipartisan effort to improve collaboration on and coverage of the Sri Lankan Civil War. Among other things, we collected a number of recommendations for getting your point across while keeping out of trouble. We're here to help! In any event, we invite you to leave us a message on our talk page.
Happy editing! — Sebastian 21:06, 2 February 2007 (UTC)
Watchlists
- All
- 1 - 3 - 7 days • view • edit
This contains all SLR related pages. Please add any articles that are within our scope.
- Project files
- 1 - 3 - 7 days • view • edit
This page lists all files of this project itself. Please add Please add any new project files that you create here.
- Longterm
- 30 - 90 - 365 days • view • edit
This page lists only pages that are expected to change less frequently. It is included in the above page.
These three files are also used in /whatsnew.