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Quotes from Sarsour

I added some quotes from Sarsour, and User:Muboshgu deleted them. User:Muboshgu did not leave a comment with the deletion, but did post the following on my talk page:

Please do not add commentary, your own point of view, or your own personal analysis to Wikipedia articles, as you did to Linda Sarsour. Doing so violates Wikipedia's neutral point of view policy and breaches the formal tone expected in an encyclopedia. Thank you.

I will go by whatever the consensus is. What do others think about this content? Here is what I added:

Extended content

Sarsour has made the following four statements in favor of the U.S. adopting Sharia law:

  • "10 weeks of PAID maternity leave in Saudi Arabia. Yes PAID. And ur worrying about women driving. Puts us to shame."[1]
  • "shariah law is reasonable and once u read into the details it makes a lot of sense. People just know the basics"[2]
  • "You'll know when you're living under Sharia Law if suddenly all your loans & credit cards become interest free. Sound nice, doesn't it?"[3]
  • "If you are still paying interest than Sharia Law hasn't taken over America."[4]

References

Bk33725681 (talk) 03:27, 1 November 2017 (UTC)

Your commentary / personal analysis was saying that she's advocating the U.S. adopt sharia law. Her defending it, and pointing out some things about it that aren't mentioned by right-wing media when trying to scare people about Islam, is quite different. – Muboshgu (talk) 03:33, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
None of those quotes state that Sarsour is "in favor of the U.S. adopting Sharia law." That is your unsupported personal interpretation of those quotes, and Wikipedia is not the place to publish your personal ideas of what she means. NorthBySouthBaranof (talk) 03:57, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
The section heading and first sentence "Support for adopting Sharia law in the U.S." is OR or at least un-sourced. The quotes are OK thoough PRIMARY. We probably should have a balanced section dealing with her views regarding Sharia law (which, to my understanding, do not include forcing Sharia on non-Muslims but do include opposition to Ban on sharia law initiatives (and supporting courts' ability to resolved personal issues (such as divorce) based on Sharia for Muslims) and her general support/positiveness for Sharia law). But any such section would need to be solidly sourced on secondary sources covering this in depth.Icewhiz (talk) 06:11, 1 November 2017 (UTC)
The Associated Press article referenced above under § Hamas, Sharia bluntly dismisses the imposition-of-Islamic-law angle. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 07:24, 4 November 2017 (UTC)

Atweh relationship

@Sangdeboeuf: - Seeing the NYT gives the Atweh/Sarsour relationship as "cousin of father" - so a first cousin once removed, can we perhaps settle on relative? Family friend is imprecise. I think cousin is apt for such a case, as it generally refers to beyond just first-cousins (and definitely would catch a first-cousin once removed) - however relative escapes the cousin hairsplitting.Icewhiz (talk) 07:35, 5 November 2017 (UTC)

Relative seems acceptable. For the record, I'm not the only one who can respond to this question, so the ((ping)) seems unnecessary. Anyone is welcome to comment. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 07:51, 5 November 2017 (UTC)
Also, we shouldn't assume that "one of her father's cousins" (per NYT) means first cousin in this case. As stated, the word can refer to relatives beyond first cousins. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 07:56, 5 November 2017 (UTC)
Cousin can be unspecified, yes (which is the meaning I ascribed to it - not first). It looks like we're agreed on relative. I pinged you to move to talk instead of the article itself (as we were in a back and forth there - wanted to reach agreement on talk prior to making additional article changes).Icewhiz (talk) 08:18, 5 November 2017 (UTC)
The meaning of "Cousin" varies culturally, and is best avoided unless we're explicitly talking about a child of a parent's sibling, which we are not here. "Relative" is better; there is no evidence that the precise relationship matters. Vanamonde (talk) 14:54, 5 November 2017 (UTC)

Yiannopoulos and Geller at rally

There is no consensus to mention Milo Yiannopoulos's and Pamela Geller's role in Sarsour's 2017 CUNY graduation speech. SMcCandlish proposed including the general reaction of conservatives to the speech, which Sangdeboeuf agreed to and implemented here. No editors have objected to the edit after nearly a month.

Cunard (talk) 18:05, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Two issues here: 1). whether in describing the controversy over Sarsour's 2017 CUNY graduation speech, we should describe Milo Yiannopoulos's and Pamela Geller's role in the event, and 2). if so, whether it's unduly sensationalist to quote their actual remarks against Sarsour. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 00:23, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

Update: see proposed text under § Proposal: CUNY speech below. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 21:48, 10 October 2017 (UTC)

Proposal: CUNY speech

Per User:SMcCandlish's comments about the general reaction of conservatives to Sarsour's speech at CUNY, here's what the mainstream sources say:

Sarsour is also a figure loathed by conservatives, in large part for her support for the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel, which some see as inherently anti-Semitic. Although she has said she wants to see Israelis and Palestinians coexist, many on the right do not trust her. Now, they are mounting a furious campaign to prevent her from speaking at the commencement for the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, which she is slated to do on June 1. That movement may have gotten a boost from a recording of Sarsour’s talk at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire on May 12.[1]

Sarsour's selection drew criticism from some right-wing speakers and pundits, including Milo Yiannopoulos and Pamela Gellar, who both protested her speech at a rally outside the university last week. Sarsour's critics have accused her of holding anti-Semitic views because of her comments on Islam and Middle Eastern politics, including her support for the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel.[2]

The controversy over Ms. Sarsour’s appearance is the latest dispute in a heated national dialogue over free speech on university campuses. But in this instance, the roles have been reversed. Other protests have largely pitted left-wing students against conservative speakers like Mr. Yiannopoulos, Ann Coulter, Gavin McInnes and Charles Murray. This time, conservatives are leading the charge against Ms. Sarsour. Her critics are a strange mix, including right-leaning Jews and Zionists, commentators like Pamela Geller, and some members of the alt-right. They accuse her of sympathizing with terrorists, supporting Sharia law and anti-Semitism for statements she has made about politics in the Middle East.[3]

Summarizing these, I propose changing the existing text:

The Dartmouth College exchange may have boosted criticism of the choice of Sarsour to deliver a graduation address at the City University of New York (CUNY) in June 2017.[1] Critics also pointed to her support for the BDS movement.[2][4]

to the following:

When Sarsour was scheduled to deliver a graduation address at the City University of New York (CUNY) in June 2017, her selection as speaker was strongly opposed by some conservatives.[1][3] They accused her of anti-Semitism and sympathizing with terrorists for her comments on Middle Eastern politics, including her stated support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.[2][3] Conservative commentators Milo Yiannopoulos and Pamela Geller were two of those who protested Sarsour's speech at a rally outside the university.[2]

Any suggestions are welcome. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 21:48, 10 October 2017 (UTC) (updated 22:26, 15 October 2017 (UTC))

Nota bene* I've ended this RfC myself – a couple of users have made convincing arguments that Milo & Geller are mere talking heads in this controversy. Since we have the broader right-wing reaction to the speech summarized in reliable sources, I'll be adding that via the proposed text above if there are no objections I've added the proposed text above, in a slightly different order. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 17:05, 12 October 2017 (UTC) (updated 01:00, 22 October 2017 (UTC))

References

  1. ^ a b c Nazaryan, Alexander (May 24, 2017). "Linda Sarsour, Feminist Movement Leader, Too Extreme for CUNY Graduation Speech, Critics Argue". Newsweek.
  2. ^ a b c d Reilly, Katie (May 31, 2017). "Linda Sarsour's CUNY Commencement Address Has Become a Right-Wing Target". Time.
  3. ^ a b c Rosenberg, Eli (May 26, 2017). "A Muslim-American Activist's Speech Raises Ire Even Before It's Delivered". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
  4. ^ Gabrielli, Sarah; Schapiro, Rich (25 May 2017). "Violence erupts at protest of CUNY grad speaker Linda Sarsour". Daily News. New York.

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Request for comment: San Bernardino attack

The following discussion is an archived record of a request for comment. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion. A summary of the conclusions reached follows.
There is no consensus for the inclusion of this material. There is a strong divide on whether or not to include the quoted material, with !votes being split completely even. In terms of policy, strong arguments have been given on both sides. The quote is well sourced, and acts to inform the reader of Sarsour's views, which is what she is known for. Conversely, there is a risk of the article becoming a quote farm, and going into too much detail on every thing Sarsour has ever said. To an extent this is more a question of writing style rather than of anyone violating policy. However, per WP:BLPREQUESTRESTORE it is best to play it safe, and not restore the the passage given the lack of any consensus.
If a consensus is to be reached, it may be better to pursue the line of enquiry raised by User:The Four Deuces: finding and including secondary source analysis of Sarsour's views on the connection between Islamic terrorism and the Muslim community. This would address the concerns about quotefarming, while allowing for more information regarding her views to be included in the article. Brustopher (talk) 15:30, 17 December 2017 (UTC)

Should we include Sarsour's comments in response to U.S. President Barack Obama saying that Muslims should "root out" extremism following the 2015 San Bernardino attack? (updated 19:52, 16 October 2017 (UTC)) —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 17:43, 16 October 2017 (UTC)

The text in the article is as follows:

In the wake of the 2015 San Bernardino attack, President Obama called for Muslims to take responsibility and "root out misguided ideas that lead to radicalization".[1] Sarsour objected to Obama's singling out Muslims, saying, "We would never ask any other faith community to stand up and condemn acts of violence committed by people within their groups", commenting that many domestic terrorist plots had already been foiled because Muslims reported them to authorities.[2][3]

Some previous discussion may be seen in the midst of Talk:Linda Sarsour#Sound bytes.Icewhiz (talk) 10:26, 18 October 2017 (UTC)

*Comment I sympathise with Vanamonde's post above, little info is provided to we RfC-ers and I could not find any prior discussion above either about content, context or level of coverage of Sarsour's 'response' to Obama, nor what content is proposed here. I'm not going to give a 'vote' on an abstract Q. without this info and it is not reasonable to ask commenters to do so. How can anyone meaningfully provide a response in the absence of this info? Pincrete (talk) 09:33, 18 October 2017 (UTC) Fixed by Icewhiz, thanksPincrete (talk) 21:25, 18 October 2017 (UTC)

References

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Cemetery fundraising

I disagree with this edit by User:Sangdeboeuf.

(Removing minor events/controversies – little to no WP:ANALYSIS from mainstream sources – see Talk:Linda Sarsour/Archive 7#Trivia)

Under WP:NPOV, the criteria for including something in Wikipedia is WP:WEIGHT, and material should be included in proportion to its representation in WP:RS. The story of Sarsour raising money to restore a Jewish cemetery was reported in NPR, NBC News, Democracy Now, Jewish Post, Christian Science Monitor, Fox News, Philly.com, U.S. News and World Report, etc. and that should establish WP:WEIGHT. So it's not minor events or trivia.

Do other editors agree? If so, I will revert those edits. --Nbauman (talk) 14:23, 16 November 2017 (UTC)

I believe that Sarsour's funding controversies in 2017 - both the cemeteries and relief for Harvey - should have some coverage per coverage this has received throughout the year.Icewhiz (talk) 14:29, 16 November 2017 (UTC)
The coverage mentioned is not necessarily enough to show that the event is significant in Sarsour's bio, and we don't need to catalogue Sarsour's every brief appearance in the news. See WP:PROPORTION: "discussion of isolated events, criticisms, or news reports about a subject may be verifiable and impartial, but still disproportionate to their overall significance to the article topic". If there are sources that show that the event was of lasting significance or offer other evaluation and analysis, feel free to suggest them. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 15:56, 16 November 2017 (UTC)
WP:PROPORTION says that material should be included "proportional to its treatment in the body of reliable, published material on the subject." There were many stories in WP:RS. What else is your criteria for "lasting significance"? --Nbauman (talk) 21:04, 16 November 2017 (UTC)
"Many stories" is relative. And there are many events reported in multiple news sources every day that don't end up in the encyclopedia. "Lasting significance" would be shown by, at minimum, coverage of this issue in reliable, mainstream sources over more than a single news cycle. Even better would be a source explaining why this event is important, so that we don't rely on original research to place it in context within Sarsour's bio. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 22:42, 16 November 2017 (UTC)
"Lasting significance" sounds awfully subjective on your part. I could show you a source like this https://jezebel.com/the-demonization-of-linda-sarsour-1797537513 and this https://www.timesofisrael.com/bds-activist-raises-56000-for-vandalized-jewish-cemetery/ and you could simply say, "I don't think that's lasting significance." That would just be your personal opinion. De gustibus non est disputandum. How about it? Do the Jezebel story and the Times of Israel story meet your standard of "lasting significance"? --Nbauman (talk) 08:54, 17 November 2017 (UTC)
Editorial judgement is by nature subjective, but the burden to achieve consensus is in fact on the person seeking to include the disputed content. I don't think Jezebel is terribly mainstream, and Times of Israel is just more routine news coverage from the time of the event. Wikipedia is not a newspaper – to show that something is encyclopedically significant, we need to cite published evaluation and analysis, preferably from multiple mainstream, reliable sources. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 09:45, 17 November 2017 (UTC)
Nbauman and Icewhiz are right. This content belongs in the article. [[PPX]] (talk) 16:33, 17 November 2017 (UTC)
First you say that you're removing the cemetery story because -- even though there were multiple news reports -- they weren't analytical enough. So I showed you analytical stories. Now you say the cemetery story can't go in because you personally don't think Jezebel is "mainstream" enough, and the long analytical story in Times of Israel (which incorporated JTA reporting) is "routine news coverage." I disagree. I think they are analytical, there's been lots of coverage in WP:RS, and that meets WP:WEIGHT. It doesn't look as if I can convince you, but I think other editors agree with me. --Nbauman (talk) 23:04, 17 November 2017 (UTC)
I'd appreciate less of the confrontational rhetoric, thanks. And consensus on Wikipedia is reached through reasoned discussion, not majority rule. I'm not seeing the purported analysis in the Times of Israel article, though I am seeing several prominent references to Sarsour's support of the BDS movement. Publications focused on Israel do seem to have a fixation with Sarsour for this reason. But Sarsour is American, and the incident happened in Missouri, not the Middle East. The lack of mainstream U.S. sources offering any kind of commentary or analysis on this event says to me that it's a minor blip on the news calendar, nothing more. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 20:16, 18 November 2017 (UTC)
This was covered by quite a few RSes. Many, but not all, sources were Jewish, as should he expected when there is funding controvesy around a Jewish cemetary. There is policy in Wikipedia to exclude Jewish sources, and I for one find it highly objectionable that such an editing criteria seems to be suggested here.Icewhiz (talk) 20:56, 18 November 2017 (UTC)
Sangdeboeuf, I think it's fair to say that you're a deletionist. I'm not. I think you're raising the bar for "analytical" beyond what Wikipedia requires. There are enough WP:RS to include the cemeteries in the article. I've made my case and the consensus of editors working on this article seems to go with me. It's been nice debating with you.
The other deletion you made was about Sarsour's support for Kaepernick. I did a Google search for WP:RS and found several : Ebony [5] , Moyers & Co. [6] and New York Daily News [7] Yes, I know you're going to say that those are brief references. In my judgment, they're enough for at least a brief mention in the article, maybe with Black Lives Matter. If other editors want to restore it, they've got my vote. --Nbauman (talk) 22:21, 18 November 2017 (UTC)
This discussion has been unnecessarily personalized from the outset. Rather than continue it, I've started an RfC on the NFL/Kaepernick question below. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 22:21, 19 November 2017 (UTC)
@Icewhiz: I said "publications focused on Israel", not "Jewish" publications. They are not equivalent. One could include most neoconservative U.S. publications (e.g. National Review, the Daily Caller) with the former. However, actual Israeli sources' fixation on Sarsour remains a curiosity. Sarsour is American, not Israeli. She has nothing to do with Israel apart from her public statements. Other American activists have made similar statements. Why would we have more Israel-based sources than usual for this particular biography, especially concerning issues where mainstream U.S. publications have little or nothing to say? —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 22:28, 19 November 2017 (UTC)
Much or Sarsour's notability comes from her identificaton as Palestinian and these positions. If she receives SIGCOV in RSes these should be represented in proportion to the amount of coverage she receives.Icewhiz (talk) 05:03, 20 November 2017 (UTC)
Well, that hinges on just how "SIG" the "COV" is, and just how "R" the "S"es are. In this case, the coverage of the cemetery fundraising in Times of Israel lacks an explanation of how it's relevant to any broader issues or concerns. It's just regular news reporting. Not very significant, in my opinion. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 12:12, 20 November 2017 (UTC)
I see quite a bit of coverage - from the beginning of the year and until recently: [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]. "Regular news reporting" dies 2 days after the event. In this case - we have this event (as well the issues in disbursing the funds) - popping up months after the event - continuing through present time.Icewhiz (talk) 12:27, 20 November 2017 (UTC)
Several of these sources are either opinion or routine local news coverage. I see also that no effort has been made to incorporate any of these sources into the article. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 03:03, 21 December 2017 (UTC)

Article lead, and tag

A tag was added with the the comment: "This article's lead section does not adequately summarize key points of its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page."

Alas, no one has started a discussion on the talk page about this...So: please list what is wrong/lacking in the lead here, Thanks, Huldra (talk) 23:48, 21 December 2017 (UTC)

I think I added the tag originally. The two short paragraphs of the lead seemed to omit important details, such as what Sarsour accomplished as AAANY director, her activism since the 2017 Women's March, and the nature of the controversy around her. However, I've held off on expanding the lead myself until it can be determined exactly how much detail belongs in the article itself and how much is simply WP:RECENTIST fluff, scandal-mongering, or worse. As can be seen in the immediately preceding section, this is an ongoing process. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 01:04, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
The tag belongs - the lead does not accurately ssummarize the body and is way too short. Part of this is due to some editors preventing any critical information appearing in the lead. Considering this is an activist who is serially involved in various mini scandals (and her notability arises mainly from this coverage, if she was merely AAANY director she might have not passed notability in 2016 when this was created - the former director (Atweh) clearly does not) one would expect these would be mentioned to some extent in the lead.Icewhiz (talk) 03:17, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
An activist who is serially involved in various mini scandals – I think you mean that she is a regular target of unhinged conspiracy theories and other smear attempts promulgated by various Angry White Men. Sarsour has undoubtedly said some crude and contentious things, but the level of fear and loathing directed at her from the conservative blogosphere is out of all proportion to her actual positions, not to mention the power she actually wields. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 05:05, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
Call it whatever - she says something flamebaity (e.g. call to Jihad or "take their ****"), gets flamed, and flames back - and the whole exchange gets covered for a few days. This cycle has been repeated a few dozen times. It takes two to tango (or more in some of these exchanges). Whatever we call these exchanges, this is what makes her notable - this got her on the national stage to begin with, and has continued (in a much greater pace) since she got onto the stage. Some of these exchanges (e.g. jihad) get alot of attention others (e.g. equating zionists with neo nazies and white supramicists) get less attention. This is somewhat akin to say Milo Yiannopoulos (on the opposite side of the spectrum) where we do have a proper lead.Icewhiz (talk) 05:20, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
Well, I think your analysis is a little lopsided – the "flames" in Sarsour's case are coming overwhelmingly from her various detractors, as the links above show. Nor is such breathless fear-mongering responsible for her notability, any more than modern flat-Earth conspiracy theories make the shape of the Earth a notable topic. As far as WP:GNG is concerned, we look to in-depth coverage in reliable, mainstream sources. According to such sources, Sarsour's notability comes from her community activism and especially her role in the 2017 Women's March. The conservative media attacks that followed are a result of that notability, not the cause of it. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 06:18, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
The "conservative media attacks" pre-dated the women match - as did this flambaiting. e.g. the 2015 stone throwing tweet (which caused a mini-stir in NYC politics - which is what she was (and is) involved with) - Hikind, Menchaca settle differences over Arab leader Sarsour's comments, De Blasio pal at odds with Jewish legislator over Palestinian ‘courage’ tweet, Taxpayers should not be funding this anti-American hate-spewer. Or the listing of wrongs here in 2012 - More Radicalism From Another White House Guest. It has all picked up pace in 2017. Her notability is rooted in these exchanges - it is why she is covered (occasionally by MSM - not that much), embraced (by ultra-liberal organizations and media), or attacked (by the converse). In any case - our lead, at present, totally ignores that she is notable for. Per your own words - Sarsour has undoubtedly said some crude and contentious things, but the level of fear and loathing directed at her from the conservative blogosphere is out of all proportion to her actual positions, not to mention the power she actually wields - and I'll add - 95% of her coverage is related to this (including coverage of the alleged loathing and attacks against her).Icewhiz (talk) 06:43, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
Well, 95% of the sources on Apparent retrograde motion are astrology columns; that doesn't mean such material is suitable for an encyclopedia article. And it was only after January 2017 that Sarsour's activism, and the attacks against her, began to receive substantial secondary-source coverage beyond her home city of New York that I can see. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 13:56, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
Prior to 2017 she was mainly a local NYC activist/city-politician. While breaking out nationally during parts of 2017 (on some events, namely the Women's march and the Jihad bit at ISNA) - she still is a "local" NYC item. While this may be relevant grounds for a notability discussion in a AfD (which she would pass) - we routinely include coverage by reliable local outfits on a multitude of figures.Icewhiz (talk) 14:57, 22 December 2017 (UTC)