I am currently involved in the editing of some articles that are considered to have controversial content. On this basis I thought it worth presenting a content to explain where I am coming from with regard to these issues. I have similarly presented User boxes to the right. They represent genuine areas of interest and involvement but do not necessarily need to be heeded.
From mid 2014 I began to transfer my long standing interest in Arabic-Jewish relations and Israel to Wikipedia in relation to pages dealing with such topics as "anti-Semitism" with current discussion at 3D Test of Antisemitism.
I am both a Zionist[1][2] and a Critic of Israel[3]. I am a Zionist according to the definition that I am supporter of a Jewish homeland in the territory defined as the Land of Israel. I love the people and the place and, after five years of living there, nothing has changed. I am a critic of Israel (and Palestine) in that I abhor all related factors in regard to the conflict, historical factors, the colonial and manipulative actions of land grab settlements in occupied territories and resentments on both sides. There is no contradiction in being both a critic of Israel and a actual Zionist. In education and employment it is possible to criticise a student or a worker with no thought being given to them being expelled or sacked. It is similarly possible to criticise a family member or fellow citizen with no thought to them being disinherited or deported. There can often be a place for constructive criticism. Peace - that's my idea of wikt:Zion. There's a mountain worth climbing. Everything that gets in the way has to be addressed. Not all critics are anti-Zionist - quite the reverse.
My interest stems from observations, partly gained from spending five years in Israel,: that Israel can gain profitable and peaceful relationships with neighbours like Egypt and Jordan but they fail to achieve peace with natives of Palestine that they encounter on a more regular basis; that Palestinian Israelis could be forced to join queues lasting over an hour to get through check-points while Jewish Israelis and tourists who did not choose to queue with the Palestinians could join proportionately better serviced routes; and that attitudes to me from some members of Israeli security forces, mainly in the Old City of Jerusalem, could completely change upon discovery of a person's non-Israeli nationality. I am a mongrel, bred from a mixture of Anglo-Spanish-Japanese stock and gained perspectives of someone who could easily have been considered to have had any of a variety of mid-eastern looks. These experiences along with reflections on aspects of my family identity and history has influenced my views on anti-Semitism and then a small matter of misrepresentation tipped me over the edge.
My interests in Israel included: Ulpan (אבל שכחתי הרוב); Israeli folk dancing in Emek Refaim, Jerusalem; Arab-Israeli peace projects; falafel and hummus until eventually o.d.ing and reverting more to shawarma.
