#Wikimedia #GLAM - donation of pictures from #Syria

The Tropenmuseum was asked to make available pictures they have from Syria. Today, it is my pleasure to inform you about a donation by the "Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen,

At the time we celebrated the Erasmus Prize and, at the time we worried about Bassel Khartabil. There is little hope for Bassel but there is hope for us to become informed about Syria.

It is Ramadan, and whether you believe or not, this is an auspicious time to consider the information we have on Syria.

Share the pictures you hold in Commons. As we learn just a little more about the country, its peoples and history we may find them to be just like us.
Thanks,
       GerardM

#MissingBassel - What to do for him and, for #Syria

#Bassel is a Wikipedian. He has been sentenced to death and according to some, there is not much that we can do. They are wrong. We can do so much even within the confines of what they think is our neutral point of view.

Bassel is from Syria, in many ways people think they Syrians are the enemy. They are wrong. Bassel is a Syrian and he is one of the 735 Syrians in all of Wikipedia. Writing about Syria, about Syrians is what we can do. Without adequate coverage of Syria there is no neutral point of view. We need to know about Syria and its history, the people that make up the Syrians without making information available in Wikipedia, it is all too easy to persist in the idea that they are the enemy.

When we write articles, we need illustrations. We need illustration about modern Syria and the Syria that once was. Particularly for this last part, our friends in the many GLAM institutions for help. When we explain our need, they are quite happy to raise to the occasion, after all it is for a Wikipedian..

At the Erasmus award ceremony we got to talk and people from the Tropenmuseum came up with the idea of checking their collection. They have a small collection of 356 images readily available for upload and, they need some assistance.. It is such a small collection because it is not easy to ask the often Syrian photographers for their permission.. the fog of war you know..

We can make a difference for Bassel, make no mistake. We can ask our GLAM friends, we can ask Syrians who live abroad, we can ask anyone for illustrations about everything Syria. We can ask ourselves what we can do and the least we can do is make a difference and write about Syria and the Syrians.
Thanks,
       GerardM

#MissingBassel - #Wikidata as a tool II

At the Dutch Wikimedia conference I demonstrated how at Wikidata the data for Bassel Khartabil was enriched. The presentation shows how I added other people who have been awarded the Index award.

There are many ways to measure quality. Bassel is a member of Wikipedia. He deserves to be recognised as such because I hate to think that others like him will see an end to their life for our values. Through the index award, he is linked to for instance Malala. Given the steps of separation, how far off is Bassel from you?
Thanks,
     GerardM

#MissingBassel - #Wikidata as a tool

We fear for the life of our fellow Wikipedian Bassel Khartabil. Rumour has it that he has been sentenced to death in Syria. We would dearly love to know that he is save and we hope for his release.

I will present at the Dutch Wikimedia conference and my topic is sets and quality. Bassel received the Index award and I will present how to add the award to people who received the award as well.

Some people say that we should not get involved in the case of Bassel because we are .. then they fail to convince me because for me Bassel is not political, he is one of us. Some Wikipedians talk endlessly about what Wikipedia stands for and how important our NPOV is. They however fail to grasp how much Wikimedia fails Syria. Only 732 Syrian citizens are known to Wikidata. Arguably we do not inform about Syria at all particularly not because even Caracalla is seen as a Syrian. As Wikipedia fails to properly inform about Syria, is it that we fail Bassel because he is from Syria as well?
Thanks,
       GerardM

#Wikipedia - #Freebassel and #Erasmusprijs

Yesterday our Wikipedia community received the Erasmusprijs. It was a wonderful occasion where the king of the Netherlands handed the prize to three Wikipedians :).

It was wonderful. I met with many old friends, it was the first time that I was in the presence of our king and queen, and princess Beatrix.. AWESOME is the word.

One burning topic, something that tempered the spirits, was Bassel, our fellow Wikipedian from Syria who has been sentenced to death. He embodies our values and the values of the Erasmus society. One question that was considered was what to do.

We can steal a page out of the book of Amnesty International and the director of the Dutch branch suggested calling embasies. It did work for Amnesty in the past. We may ask attention for Bassel on the Wikipedia central notice and, this is being worked on.

More ideas came up. I met with old friends from the Tropenmuseum. They are the original GLAM partners and they will consider providing us with material about Syria or Iraq. Thinking along these lines, it could become a "snowball project" where every GLAM is asked to participate and donate from their collection.

I met an old friend from Germany, she came up with the idea of asking refugees to edit Wikipedia in whatever language about their country, their topics. It would keep them occupied, not happy but busy in a positive way and make them Wikipedians like Bassel.


The only thing we can really do as Wikipedians is do what we do best. It is provide information in a neutral point of view. Arguably because of the lack of information about Syria we are not doing what we should do. Recognising this it is fitting when we support Bassel by writing in our own way in our own project about Syria, its people, its history. It is the best message that we can give. Like Bassel we dream of a world where we can all share in the sum of all knowledge.
Thanks,
      GerardM

#Wikipedia on #Syria and #Iraq in the light of #Paris

There is no excuse for what happened for what happens. Now that the news of Paris sunk in, lets consider the other side. The other side are the people of Syria, Iraq.. Countries where many people suffer beyond belief. They are from places that have a rich history, brought us many notable people and even when we look for it, we will not be able to find it in Wikipedia or Wikidata.

If there is one thing that is most often true about an "enemy", it is that you do not know them for who they are. Our true enemy is not the people from Syria or Iraq, they are the people that describe themselves as Daesh. By there own definition they are apart from Syrians and Iraqis.

This distinction is important and, it does not help that we know so little in any language about Syria, Iraq, the notable people, the history, the culture. The lack of knowledge is often seen as a necessary component of discrimination and the associated belief that the other is the enemy.

The war is now uncomfortably close, it hit Paris and who is next? Refugees have arrived in Europe and they have their story to tell. To understand these stories, it is important that Wikipedia has enough information to fill in the background. It is vital that Wikipedia, Wikidata knows about those who are not the enemy.,
Thanks.
      GerardM

#FREEBASSEL: Free culture advocate who built 3D renderings of Palmyra missing in Syria

When the Wikimedia Foundation asks on its blog to campaign for a Wikipedian who has gone missing.. How can I not express my regret that this is necessary and how can I not mourn the destruction that is happening in Syria.

Free Bassel Khartabil !!
Thanks,
      GerardM

#Wikidata - #Free Mazin Darwish

It is satisfying to learn that Mr Darwish has been freed. He was jailed since February 2012 and, the BBC has it that we was freed. It mentions that he is the director of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) and received many international awards.

Wikidata already knew about a few of those awards, finding more awards was a matter of reading the three Wikipedia articles. It is just a matter of doing the research. One of the awards Mr Darwish received was the PEN Pinter Prize in 2014. However, the Wikipedia article calls it the "Pinter International Writer of Courage Award". This award is not listed on the "List of PEN awards".

There is a reason to celebrate. Mr Darwish is free. It is satisfying to see that a lot of information is already there. Working on the data that exists on Mr Darwish connects him with more people sharing similar connections.

Every day there is someone who is worthy of attention. I can do this, you can do this. It is how Wikidata gains relevance. Relevance because it is information available for use in any language including Arabic.
Thanks,
        GerardM

#Wikidata - كيفين بيكن and the #Syrian #refugees

When you consider the size of the camps where Syrian refugees are kept, the people lose their face, are no longer seen as individuals. But exactly because of the size, there must be professors, engineers, soccer stars and actors among them. Seen in that light Mr كيفين بيكن is not that far away from any of them.

I am sure that for all them it is a "significant event" to be in such a camp. Would it make a difference when we knew for many refugees how "near" they are to Mr Bacon? Would it convince you that these people need food, drink, shelter and schooling for their children?
Thanks,
       GerardM

#Wikidata & #Amnesty - Razan Zaitouneh disappeared - P746

Razan Zaitoudeh disappeared December 2013 from her home. It is probably not realistic to ask or expect her release. It is more likely that she was murdered.

Earlier in her life, Razan was detained by the Syrian government. At the time Amnesty International campaigned for her release.

Razan, Samira, Wael and Nazem disappeared together. This has been documented using the P746, date of disappearance property for all of them.

Together they received the Petra Kelly award. I am sure that their loved ones would prefer them to be safe instead.

Thanks,
     GerardM

#Wikidata & #Amnesty - Razan Zaitouneh disappeared

Razan Zaitouneh is a journalist who disappeared from her home in Douma, Syria with three other people on December 2013. Razan was very well known as a journalist documenting human rights in Syria. Razam disappeared together with Samira Khalil, Wael Hamada, and Nazem Hammadi.

Mrs Zaitouneh received several awards for her work. I was adding one of them to someone else and it is how I learned about her. It is reasonable to expect her to be dead but, how do we document the disappeared. We do not have a convenient date of death, we do not know where she died. We only know that she disappeared.. How do we register this in Wikidata?
Thanks,
       GerardM