User talk:Lfapn

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I hope you enjoy editing Wikipedia! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. Feel free to write a note on the bottom of my talk page if you want to get in touch with me. Again, welcome! Toddst1 (talk) 00:10, 14 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

To the editors:

I am the Director of Policy for Americans for Peace Now (the American sister organization of the Israeli Peace Now movement). This morning, at the suggestion of my interns (who are avid Wikipedia users) I spent a great deal of time linking substantive background papers on our website to the relevant Wikipedia pages. These documents deal with Israeli settlements and are in the form of long shelf-life, heavily-sourced, data-based background papers. They are co-written by the Director of Peace Now's Settlement Watch -- Peace Now being the most respected source for information on Israeli settlements in the world and the documents I linked -- all part of our regular Settlements in Focus series -- were each relevant and valuable contributions to the pages to which I added them.

I have not gone back to each of the pages I linked to this morning, but I have checked several. On one page, my edit was marked as vandalism by an editor in Israel. This is baffling -- the edit in question (to the page on the settlement of Ariel) -- simply added as an external link a document about....Ariel. A document that covers things like when the settlement was founded, where it is located, who lives there, what their voting patterns are (based on official - and sourced - Israel elections results), etc. It is not clear how that would qualify as vandalism.

Another edit (to the Gush Etzion) page removed links I had added to two documents that are specifically about Gush Etzion -- again, about the settlements in it, the population, the voting patterns, the barrier route around it, etc... No reason is given for why these were deleted.

I would urge the editors to take a moment to check out the links themselves (all available through the peacenow.org website, on the section entitled "Settlements in Focus"). This is a product we have been producing for several years, with very strong positive feedback. The documents include more information than analysis or opinion, and where analysis or opinion is given, it is clearly marked as such. They represent serious, valuable material that is often available nowhere else in English or in an easy to access format. They certainly do not represent vandalism or spamming or whatever else they have been labeled. I respectfully ask that the links be re-stored where they were added.

Best regards,

Lara Friedman Director of Policy and Government Relations Americans for Peace Now

August 2008

You have been indefinitely blocked from editing in accordance with Wikipedia's blocking policy for being a spam-only account. Persistent spammers will have their websites blacklisted from Wikipedia and potentially penalized by search engines. If you believe this block is unjustified, you may contest the block by adding the text {{unblock|your reason here}} below. Toddst1 (talk) 23:29, 13 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This user's unblock request has been reviewed by an administrator, who declined the request. Other administrators may also review this block, but should not override the decision without good reason (see the blocking policy).

Lfapn (block log • active blocks • global blocks • contribs • deleted contribs • filter log • creation log • change block settings • unblock • checkuser (log))

Request reason:

I am the Director of Policy for Americans for Peace Now (the American sister organization of the Israeli Peace Now movement). This morning, at the suggestion of my interns (who are avid Wikipedia users) I spent a great deal of time linking substantive background papers on our website to the relevant Wikipedia pages. These documents deal with Israeli settlements and are in the form of long shelf-life, heavily-sourced, data-based background papers. They are co-written by the Director of Peace Now's Settlement Watch -- Peace Now being the most respected source for information on Israeli settlements in the world and the documents I linked -- all part of our regular Settlements in Focus series -- were each relevant and valuable contributions to the pages to which I added them. I would urge the editors to take a moment to check out the links themselves (all available through the peacenow.org website, on the section entitled "Settlements in Focus"). This is a product we have been producing for several years, with very strong positive feedback. The documents include more information than analysis or opinion, and where analysis or opinion is given, it is clearly marked as such. They represent serious, valuable material that is often available nowhere else in English or in an easy to access format. They certainly do not represent vandalism or spamming or whatever else they have been labeled. I respectfully ask that the links be re-stored where they were added. Best regards, Lara Friedman Director of Policy and Government Relations Americans for Peace Now

Decline reason:

Your request is far too long and does not specifically address the reason why you are blocked, please file a new shorter request after you have read this — Tiptoety ^talk 23:40, 13 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you want to make any further unblock requests, please read the guide to appealing blocks first, then use the {{unblock}} template again. If you make too many unconvincing or disruptive unblock requests, you may be prevented from editing this page until your block has expired. Do not remove this unblock review while you are blocked.

lara friedman (talk) 23:35, 13 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I am the Director of Policy for Americans for Peace Now (the American sister organization of the Israeli Peace Now movement). I have been blocked for “spamming” links to external sites. The links I added were to wikipedia pages related to West Bank settlements, and all the links were to substantive background docs about the exact topic of the linked page. APN/Peace Now is the leading authority on settlements in the world and each document is a heavily-sourced backgrounder, co-written by the Director of Peace Now's Settlement Watch. Each is a relevant and valuable contribution to the page in question, including material that is often unavailable elsewhere in English or in an easy to access format.lara friedman (talk) 23:49, 13 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please read WP:SPAM along with WP:ROLE, both of which are not allowed. Any way you put it, you can not advertise for your company here. Tiptoety ^talk 23:55, 13 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This user's unblock request has been reviewed by an administrator, who declined the request. Other administrators may also review this block, but should not override the decision without good reason (see the blocking policy).

Lfapn (block log • active blocks • global blocks • contribs • deleted contribs • filter log • creation log • change block settings • unblock • checkuser (log))

Request reason:

I am the Director of Policy for Americans for Peace Now (sister org of Israeli Peace Now). I have been blocked for “spamming” links to external sites. I added links only to wikipedia pages related to West Bank settlements, and all the links were to substantive background docs about the exact topic of the linked page. APN/Peace Now is the leading authority on settlements in the world. Each linked doc is a heavily-sourced backgrounder, co-written by Peace Now. Each is a relevant and valuable contribution to the page in question, including material that is unavailable elsewhere. lara friedman (talk) 23:57, 13 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Decline reason:

Please see WP:COI, WP:NPOV, WP:SPAM, and WP:ROLE. If you intend to edit other subject matter where you don't have an interest in editing (and not this area), I would be willing to unblock. — Prodego ^talk 00:01, 14 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you want to make any further unblock requests, please read the guide to appealing blocks first, then use the {{unblock}} template again. If you make too many unconvincing or disruptive unblock requests, you may be prevented from editing this page until your block has expired. Do not remove this unblock review while you are blocked.

Note from blocking admin

If you read the note above, your request will be re-evaluated if you add a {{unblock}} note here with a concise reason why you feel you should be unblocked and will behave in accordance with Wikipedia policies. 23:52, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

{{unblock|Thank you for clarifying the policy - my apologies for the inadvertent violation. I will not edit settlement-related pages again (or any pages related to APN's work.lara friedman (talk) 00:06, 14 August 2008}}

Your request to be unblocked has been granted for the following reason(s):

per user request and promise not to spam

Request handled by: Toddst1 (talk) 00:09, 14 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks you and I very much appreciate how seriously you take your responsibility as editors. Wikipedia is a tremendous resource and I applaud you for fiercely protecting its integrity.

Best regards, Lara Friedman

Feel free to leave a note on my talk page if you need asisstance. Toddst1 (talk) 14:43, 14 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]