Talk:Bethlehem/GA

Good Article nomination

 * This article was nominated for good article status. The review began on January 21, 2008. Below is an evaluation of the article, according to the six good article criteria.

Hey there, this is a strong article. I only have some minor issues which need to be addressed before the article goes to GA. Please check off the below criteria when completed. Also, feel free to contact me on my talk page if you have any questions or concerns. Lazulilasher (talk) 18:10, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

1. Well written?:
 * Prose quality:  Almost! The Lead section is good, but I think it would be great to have more detailed descriptions of Bethlehem's history (a major part of the article) and economy.  Also, please copy edit and remove superfluous words. I tried to do a bit of this while reviewing, so please check that my work did not alter the content. Please ask for any assistance needed.
 * Good work! The new lead section does a great job of summarizing the article.Lazulilasher (talk) 19:19, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Manual of Style compliance: Almost. Please also add  non-breaking spaces between numbers/units of measurements and to the space between "p" and the page number in the ref section. Further, per the peer-review script: abbreviations for units of measurement should not have a plural "s", and years with full dates should be linked.
 * I can't find any mistakes at this point.

2. Factually accurate and verifiable?:
 * References to sources: <s?Please see below for my remarks regarding sources.
 * Thanks for adding sources to the marked claims.
 * Citations to reliable sources, where required: Again, there are some unsourced claims. Please see below.
 * Good work
 * No original research:

3. Broad in coverage?:
 * Major aspects:
 * Focused:

4. Reflects a neutral point of view?:
 * Fair representation without bias: I'm concerned that the Christian minority subsection is too long relative to the rest of the article. I believe it should be addressed, however the depth of coverage appears to be too detailed, specifically when there is no sub section about the other ethnic groups present in the Bethlehem agglomeration. Also, we need information about the demographics of the "67% Sunni majority". If an editor disagrees with this, please feel free to comment, as I recognize that this is a subjective judgement.
 * Nice edit work. I do notice that there is a large amount of information about the majority demograph, however, I still think that info about the Sunni majority could be improved. As it stands, though, this meets GA criteria.

5. Reasonably stable?
 * No edit wars, etc. (Vandalism does not count against GA):

6. Illustrated by images, when possible and appropriate?:
 * Images are copyright tagged, and non-free images have fair use rationales:
 * Images are provided where possible and appropriate, with suitable captions: My favorite image is the one with the fellow playing on his mobile phone during the Christmas procession.....Honestly, the article has excellent images/captions.

Overall:
 * Pass or Fail:

Comments Hey there! First, let me remark that this article is well-researched and, in my estimation, fairly close to GA status. There are only a number of minor issues to be addressed, in addition to the above checklist:
 * Claims lacking sources:
 * The lead section needs to be sourced -- I've read that the lead can be either completely "sourced" or "unsourced". I think that this article would have better standing sourced, so hopefully this could be completed. However, I'm open to any disagreements/comments.
 * This sentence: Many refugees from areas captured by Israeli forces in 1947-48 came to Bethlehem, setting up encampments in the north of the city near the road to Jerusalem and on the hillside to the south between the city and Solomon's Pools. These later became the official refugee camps of Beit Jibrin (or al-'Azza) and 'Aida (in the north) and Dheisheh in the south.
 * This remark has a cite needed tag, also perhaps it could be recast for clarification? 'Acquiring such permits to enter, what in the past served in many ways as an urban anchor to Bethlehem, has become exceedingly rare since the onset of the violence surrounding the Second Intifada, though Israel has subsequently erected a terminal to ease transit between the two adjoining cities.''
 * In the Christian minority section there is an unsourced claim. First, is there a citation for Mayor Nasser's remark that approx 2,000 Christians emigrated 2000-2003?
 * The Biblical quotes seem to lack a references as to what version of the Bible referred to. I'm not a Biblical scholar, but I notice that there are a number of direct quotation and am curious what text was cited.
 * The article has numerous redlinks.
 * Lastly, please run through the article with an eye towards readability. I did a bit, which I think helps, but it can't hurt to take a second look.

All things considered, I think this is a good work. I am placing the article on hold for 7 days. Please notify me on my talk page with any questions/concerns/request for clarification, etc. I am willing to help with anything I can. Thanks for everyone's good work.


 * If you feel the final result of this review has been in error, you may request a reassessment. If the article failed to attain Good Article status after a full review, it may be easier to address any problems identified above, and simply renominate it.

And I noticed I didn't sign my name anywhere in the above review....so here you are :) Lazulilasher (talk) 18:02, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

In my view this is a good article, I've made some minor improvements myself. The biggest problem is the table for the municipal elections, we surely don't need the re-calculation of votes after every count. Also I agree the red links are a problem, I've dealt with a few myself. PatGallacher (talk) 19:26, 21 January 2008 (UTC)


 * I expanded the lead section to incorporate the city's history and economy (needs some trimming and copyediting though), provided refs for the refugee camps, and the terminal (I think the ref was moved, so everything is fine) but was not able to find any source on the net that says Hanna Nasser claimed 2,000 Christians emigrated in 2000-03, so I think it should be removed and I am going to start trimming that section right now.


 * As for the red links, I do not view them as a problem but I will start a couple of articles to reduce them.


 * I will run through the article again but I think you already did a great job on that anyway.--Al Ameer son (talk) 20:51, 21 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Good job, folks! I'm impressed with everyone's efficiency over here :) Wow! Anyway, regarding the red-links: I actually can't find it cited anywhere that all blue-links are a requirement for GA--so, I guess it is more of a suggestion of where we can add to the encyclopedia.  Anyway, the article clearly meets GA criteria now. Good job and congratulations to all involved!  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lazulilasher (talk • contribs) 19:24, 22 January 2008 (UTC)