User talk:Al Ameer son/Archive 13

Thank you
Ameer, the work you've done on Syrian localities is immense, truly. Thank you. I will try to help a bit. Yazan (talk) 04:25, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks Yazan, I look forward to your help which is much needed especially regarding identification which has proven difficult for me because I've had to rely on google translate and maplandia for the most part. --Al Ameer son (talk) 16:27, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Anything you need my friend! Do let me what you're working on, at the moment, and where could you use help! Yazan (talk) 16:40, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Right now I'm taking a stab at the localities of the Aleppo Governorate. The main issue is basically identifying localities on maplandia that are spelled in Arabic, then matching them with the localities listed at the various pages of the CBS census . To focus on a particular area, we could start with Tel Rifaat. There are about five localities surrounding it on the map that are listed but all spelled in Arabic. Could you give the closest English spelling of those localities and their direction in relation to Tel Rifaat and correspond them with the populations of Tel Rifaat's census page? You could list the info here or start the articles. Also, I know this is a strange way of working on the subject, so if you have a simpler method I'm all ears. --Al Ameer son (talk) 17:04, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Actually, I think I've mostly figured out the Tel Rifaat nahiya, we could try Nubl, Mare', Akhtarin and Azaz. Here's the map:. I think the priority now should be just listing all the villages (or just the one's with larger populations, >2000) in Template:Aleppo Governorate. --Al Ameer son (talk) 20:43, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Btw, can we move the Tel Rifaat article to Tell Rifaat for consistency in Syria articles? Yazan (talk) 07:32, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I moved all the info to this draft page, here. Yazan (talk) 07:57, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Nice work, and good idea with the draft page. I think we should keep moving on with listing out Aleppo's towns and larger villages i.e. Mount Simeon, al-Bab, Manbij, Afrin etc. On a separate note, I've tried to find historical information on many of those smaller places in google books, but unfortunately I haven't had much luck with the Aleppo region compared with the Homs and Hauran regions. On the matter of name consistency should places like "Tlaleen" be written "Talalin"? Or "Byanoun" ==> "Bayanoun"; "Tell Qrah" ==> "Tell Qarah"? --Al Ameer son (talk) 02:33, 29 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I think it would be great to move forward with the localities. Once we finish populating the articles for the major settlements in Azaz District, we can move to the other ones (I'll start compiling the other lists). You're right about the names, I had the local pronunciation in mind when I wrote them, I'll fix that. I've had very luck with finding extra information about these towns too, even in Arabic. Search results are dominated by youtube videos from the towns' protests. We can keep looking though. Yazan (talk) 04:37, 29 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I also think we should start categorizing the settlements by District. Something like Category: Populated places in A'zaz District. What do you think? Yazan (talk) 04:41, 29 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I've briefly drifted off to Nahiyah Afrin, apparently there are a number of historic villages that are still populated there: See Kimar, Barad, Burj Haider, Fafertin (location of one of Syria's oldest churches) and Ain Dara (although this Ain Dara is just to the east of the ancient site) among others. All have populations less than 2,000. As for the more specific categorization, we should definitely move ahead with that. --Al Ameer son (talk) 04:54, 29 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Wonderful! I've created all the necessary categories (for Aleppo governorate for now) and organized all the articles in their proper categories. Yazan (talk) 05:28, 29 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Hey Ameer, I wandered a bit towards Latakia, because I know the area well... added some info on the draft page and created several pages. Yazan (talk) 13:40, 29 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Nice work! I'll try to finish up with A'zaz and Afrin, although I also want to expand on Barad and Najran (in as-Suwayda) for potential DYKs. --Al Ameer son (talk) 18:15, 29 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I've tried to find additional information or sources on Barad but couldn't. Good luck! Yazan (talk) 02:56, 30 August 2012 (UTC)
 * No sweat, I think I have just enough sources for a DYK at the moment. Almost finished with A'zaz District, but was wondering about Sheikh Issa's location. If you look at the map of the area, could it be that Sheikh Issa is the town just between Tel Rifaat and Mare' along the road? --Al Ameer son (talk) 05:28, 30 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Wonderful, that is it actually. I finished the Latakia District (although several more towns could be added, not by virtue of their population, but because they are popular summer resorts, Om al-Tuyour, Al-Badrousiyah, but that's for later). I was wondering whether we should place the district capitals (bolded) at the beginning regardless of their alphabetization. It makes it easier to find them. What do you think? Yazan (talk) 05:55, 30 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Nice, I'll start it promptly. And I have no problem with placing the district capitals first. We should probably follow through with that at Template:Homs Governorate as well. About the smaller but better known Latakia villages, we should still list them in the template regardless of whether we start them now or later. A common thing I've noticed with all the governorates I've worked on is that many of the historic or better-known places have very tiny populations. --Al Ameer son (talk) 06:11, 30 August 2012 (UTC)

(indent) Great, I'll do that. I discovered I forgot the Hanadi nahiyah in Latakia district. Working on it. One last thing. Could you add this parameter to the new settlements you're starting.
 * settlement_type       = Town (Town: for Nahiyah capital; Village: for other settlements; Leave blank for City) Yazan (talk) 06:15, 30 August 2012 (UTC)
 * No problem, I'll continue working tomorrow. I actually considered that in the past, but wasn't sure how the Syrian government classified places. If we could find a source that deals with the subject that would be great because we could start articles such as municipality (Palestinian Authority) or local council (Israel). --Al Ameer son (talk) 06:23, 30 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Well, I don't have a source, but I am pretty sure that each of these villages is considered a "municipality." The Nahiyah capitals, are both a municipality and the seat of Nahiyah Organization, and so on. Yazan (talk) 06:29, 30 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I also finished adding all settlements of interest to the Latakia Governorate template. Many still red links I'll go through them little by little. Yazan (talk) 08:00, 30 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Hey Amir. I finished adding all the important towns and villages in Tartus to the template. But could you please move, Ash-Shaykh Badr (and its district) to Al-Shaykh Badr, and Dreikiche (and District) to Duraykish? Thank you!
 * Hey, don't worry about the Daraa template, I'm creating an updated one User:Zozo2kx/Template:Temp, with all the localities. But it needs sorting. Yazan (talk) 04:38, 31 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Ok great! On a side note, I've found there's much more info about the Hauran-Jabal Duruz villages than those of northern Syria. --Al Ameer son (talk) 19:36, 31 August 2012 (UTC)
 * For towns that start with "Om", does it mean mother and is it the same as "Umm"? --Al Ameer son (talk) 03:43, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Om is Umm (I was writing it Om, but now I'm switching to your spelling, but I may have missed some). I'll try to help as much with Hauran-Jabal Druz articles, but I also want to start stubs for Rif Dimashq articles, especially the ones that are under bombardment (to provide a reference, and a place for people to add info). Yazan (talk) 04:05, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Btw, I created Tafas. Which I think could be fleshed out further with some history from Huldra, or your sources. The only thing I could find was about the 1918 massacre that T.E. Lawrence was involved in. Yazan (talk) 06:31, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
 * I tried finding info on Tafas a while ago, but didn't have much luck. I think we'll be ok though. I'm about to start Khan Danun (draft page) in Rif Dimashq but have two questions: 1) What's the name of this nahiya "cladding" ? 2) There's also a Palestinian refugee camp there, should I just add information about the camp in the same article or should we have separate articles. The reason I ask is because it's not a big place like Homs where we have two separate articles on the city and the camp. --Al Ameer son (talk) 06:39, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
 * The Nahiyah is Kiswe, Syria. I think it would be sufficient to add the info inside the article, it's a small one. FYI, I'm also looking at sources for Muzayrib in Daraa District, it seems to have been a major rest town for Hajj caravans from Damascus. Yazan (talk) 06:45, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Nice. Let me know what sources you find, I just saw that Muzayrib was an old stopping point for pilgrims in this source p. 202 as I was searching for Khan Danoun. I also found some tidbits about Tafas but they won't suffice for a DYK yet. --Al Ameer son (talk) 06:50, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
 * I couldn't find much else about Muzayrib, Tafas or Tell Shihab (not enough for DYK). But Al-Shaykh Saad seems to have lots of sources, as it is identified with the biblical city of Ashteroth Karnaim . Yazan (talk) 09:36, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Found more stuff on Muzayrib, very little on Tafas and haven't checked out Tell Shihab yet, but I'll work on it. Let's start a draft page on Sheikh Saad. Do you know if Muzayrib is on Huldra's list? I couldn't find it. --Al Ameer son (talk) 23:35, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

(indent) I´m still not finished listing all the villages; hope to be finished later today. Also, check: Cheers, Huldra (talk) 02:00, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * (1901): Quarterly statement - Palestine Exploration Fund Volume: 32-33 p. 340 ff has "Notes of a Journey through the Hauran", by  George Adam Smith, a lot on older monuments found.
 * (1902): Quarterly statement - Palestine Exploration Fund Volume: 34, Clermont-Ganneau p. 22ff: Greek inscription at Tafas from year 69CE; remains of a Roman shrine. (Also a bit about "Sheikh Miskin", see p.24-25)
 * Thanks for all your help Huldra, I'll look into those sources. --Al Ameer son (talk) 07:01, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Thank you both. It's wonderful to be working with you guys again. al-Mazraa and Muzayrib both qualify for DYK now (but it would be nice if we can expand them a bit further). Tafas, Tell Shihab and al-Mushannaf need more expansion before they can be eligible. I'm gonna start a draft page on al-Shaykh Saad, perhaps tonight. Yazan (talk) 07:51, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Likewise y'akhi. Just added a bit more to Muzayrib, accidentally came across some info on it while searching for stuff on al-Mazraa. There are so many alternative spellings to the names of these places like Mzerib or al-Mezra'ah and so on... I'll help out with Sheikh Saad soon, but I got to expand Barad a bit more for DYK (deadline is today). --Al Ameer son (talk) 08:02, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * It is exhausting trying to find all the different variations in spelling. At any rate, I suggest we also try to expand the Battle of al-Mazraa article, and include it as a double nom. Yazan (talk) 08:43, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * You can go ahead and make the DYK nom, although the battle article probably needs more editing and if more accessible sources are available, further expansion. I never knew of this battle and how important it was to the national movement, so it was a great learning experience reading on it. Kudos to Sultan Pasha. --Al Ameer son (talk) 04:56, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Wonderful work. We still have some time for the nom though, I will create a template for the battles of the Great Syrian Revolt. One thing though, could you double check the last paragraph in the Aftermath section. There was no Prople's Party at the time (it was established later in the 1950s after the split of the National Bloc), I think the book means the National Bloc. Yazan (talk) 05:03, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Oops. The book was saying that "nationalist leaders" lifted the Druze forces to the status of vanguard of the independence movement and mentioned "notably Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar, founder of the Hizb al-Shaab". Maybe we could just write "nationalist leaders in Damascus that later formed to the National Bloc" or something along those lines that wouldn't sacrifice accuracy. --Al Ameer son (talk) 05:14, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Btw, I just looked into that, and it appears that there are two different Hizb al-Shaab, one founded by Shahbandar in 1920s, and the more recent one in the 1950s. But at any rate, the current version is less confusing, I think we should keep it. Yazan (talk) 07:42, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
 * That's perfect, and sounds much better. I nom'd the two articles here, do take a look and perhaps tweak the hook a bit, or suggest an ALT, it may be that the hook is slightly too long. Yazan (talk) 05:35, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Btw, I think you should go ahead and nom Barad, Syria before the DYK deadline. We could keep trying to expand it further in the meanwhile. Yazan (talk) 06:10, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
 * I tweaked the hook a bit, but I think it would be better if we mention the word "al-Mazraa" once in the hook, maybe like the "battle of al-Mazraa" What do you think? Also, just nominated Barad, thanks for giving it the extra push with the new info. --Al Ameer son (talk) 06:25, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
 * I tweaked the hook into this:


 * ... that Sultan al-Atrash's decisive victory near the town of al-Mazraa in 1925, inspired Syrian nationalists in Damascus and the countryside to join the rebellion against the French occupation?
 * Nice, that's what it should be changed to. --Al Ameer son (talk) 18:46, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
 * On a separate note, see Talk:Al-Hara, Syria for my proposed name change. --Al Ameer son (talk) 18:49, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
 * See Talk:Jindires. I think we should merge the two articles. Yazan (talk) 05:51, 4 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Also, see Template talk:Aleppo Governorate for the discussion there. Yazan (talk) 07:45, 4 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Btw, Ameer, do you know how to move categories?
 * I suggest creating a separate article for Tadmor the modern settlement, than that of Palmyra. They are pretty distinct, and they focus on different things. For example, it would be very difficult to discuss Tadmor prison or the Syrian uprising in the Palmyra article. What do you think? Yazan (talk) 14:36, 5 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, I can't move categories. You have to nominate it for a speedy rename (if it meets the speedy criteria) here.
 * For something like Tadmor/Palmyra, I suggest creating a draft page for the potentially separated article. Just to be sure though, do any RS distinguish between the two? And is the "Tadmur" mentioned by early Muslim historians and even 19th-20th century historians refer to Palmyra or Tadmur? --Al Ameer son (talk) 16:36, 5 September 2012 (UTC)
 * In fact the city's semitic name has always been "Tadmor" from the Aramaic, but Palmyra (I imagine the Latin name for it) has been the most popular in western literature. Arabic literature, as far as I know, always referred to it as Tadmor; so that's not the issue. The thing is, the ancient city far overwhelms the modern settlement, let alone the fact that the modern settlement is physically completely outside of the ancient city. I am thinking that we can mention the contemporary settlement in the lede in Palmyra, and in a short history section in Tadmor. Yazan (talk) 18:49, 5 September 2012 (UTC)
 * The last part you just wrote was what I was trying to understand: Whether or not the modern settlement is a) outside the ancient site's vicinity, and b) how we do we know which Tadmor/Palmyra is being referred to in both the medieval and contemporary literature. Is the modern settlement of Tadmor new (like 19th-20th century or much older?) I guess we'll find out as we dig through the sources. That's why I proposed we temporarily work on a draft page until we find out. However, I'm fine with your suggestion too. I'll look into the matter promptly. --Al Ameer son (talk) 02:08, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

(ec) I'm quite happy with the work we've done these past couple of weeks. Along with Tell Rifaat, we have now DYK noms of Barad, Syria (btw, you should respond there), Tell Shihab, Tafas, Muzayrib, al-Mushannaf, al-Mazraa, Battle of al-Mazraa, Najran, Syria, Tell Sukas (An old draft I had, a c/e would be great btw)... and hopefully Jandires and Tell Aran. This is a great push, couldn't have happened without you and Huldra! :) Yazan (talk) 17:30, 6 September 2012 (UTC)
 * I found a source that actually says that the modern city of Tadmur has grown near Palmyra. It is a base for tourists and for Syria's phosphate mining and natural gas sectors."page 214. Another source from the early 20th-century says the settlement of Tadmur is a "miserable village of mud-huts that has sprung up amidst the noble ruins of ancient Palmyra."page 289. Also, more obviously the satellite map clearly shows the ruins are located just outside Tadmur city. --Al Ameer son (talk) 17:25, 6 September 2012 (UTC)
 * That's great, I think that's enough to start a standalone article, no? Yazan (talk) 17:31, 6 September 2012 (UTC)
 * This gives an interesting etymology of the name. Several books    refer to Palmyra as (modern Tadmur), so we should use "Tadmur" for the recent settlement. Yazan (talk) 17:35, 6 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Nice, go ahead and start the article and we'll flesh it out as we go. --Al Ameer son (talk) 17:39, 6 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Done: Tadmur. Yazan (talk) 02:58, 7 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Hey Ameer, I'm calling it a night here, but just wanted to tell you that I nomed Jindires for DYK because today was the deadline. Do take a look at the hook, and feel free to change it! Yazan (talk) 19:57, 8 September 2012 (UTC)

Syria

 * This is odd. Template won't display my message. Clicking "edit" though should allow you to see the message... -- Activism  1234  21:14, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks Activism, I appreciate it ;) I'll fix whatever's wrong with the template. Cheers! --Al Ameer son (talk) 23:07, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

The Bugle: Issue LXXVII, August 2012
The Bugle is published by the Military history WikiProject. To receive it on your talk page, please join the project or sign up here. If you are a project member who does not want delivery, please remove your name from this page. Your editors, Ian Rose (talk) and Ed [talk] [majestic titan] 00:36, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for September 4
Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that you've added some links pointing to disambiguation pages. Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ* Join us at the DPL WikiProject.


 * Al-Mazraa (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver)
 * added links pointing to Mustafa Pasha and Jordan Valley


 * Al-Haffah (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver)
 * added a link pointing to Phoenician


 * Aqiba (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver)
 * added a link pointing to Afrin


 * Barad, Syria (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver)
 * added a link pointing to Afrin


 * Najran, Syria (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver)
 * added a link pointing to South Arabian


 * Umm Walad (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver)
 * added a link pointing to Blood money

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 10:48, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Tell Rifaat
Casliber (talk · contribs) 16:02, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

QPG
Thanks for reviewing my DYK nomination on the Egyptian politician and approving it... Just one question - what does QPG mean? You wrote that it passes QPG. I've seen this elsewhere on DYK as well.

Thanks! -- Activism  1234  21:37, 4 September 2012 (UTC)
 * If I wrote QPG, I meant to write to "QPQ". It literally stands for"quid pro quo" and it refers to the review requirement users have to make when nominating an article for DYK. --Al Ameer son (talk) 21:55, 4 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Its basic purpose is help alleviate the massive backlog that occurs at Template talk:Did you know. --Al Ameer son (talk) 22:02, 4 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Ah. Where would I find a list of all these reviews? I've also seen people say "DYK passes F10, but not F11."  What is this referring to?  And I'm not sure whether you wrote QPG or QPQ - didn't look that closely, sorry. But thanks anyway! -- Activism  1234  22:17, 4 September 2012 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure if there's a list of the reviews you have made for other users' nominations. Maybe I'm misunderstanding your question. You can ask another admin, particularly one that frequently operates in the DYK area i.e. Bluemoonset or PFHLai for further clarification since I'm not sure what F10 means either. --Al Ameer son (talk) 22:22, 4 September 2012 (UTC)
 * My fault - I misunderstood you. Thought QPQ was requirements a user like yourself has to make when reviewing a DYK nomination - not the requirement I have to make due to DYK credits. Never mind, sorry! -- Activism  1234  22:42, 4 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Sorry to butt in but, F10, F11... etc. in DYK refer to the supplementary guidelines (Did you know/Supplementary guidelines), which are additional guidelines for DYK (A-J). You should take a look at them if you haven't seen them, Activist. Very helpful. Yazan (talk) 11:28, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Taynal
Graeme Bartlett (talk) 00:02, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Again QPQ?
Thanks for your review for my DYK nomination, Ghazi Al Gosaibi. I wrote an ALT hook, including your "right" remarks. However, I could not find any info regarding QPQ. Although above there is the same question and your answer, I cannot understand what I should do. Could you please explain it in simplier terms whenever you have time? Thanks again,Egeymi (talk) 06:43, 6 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Al Ameer son, I think finally I got it. I should review another hook. Is it correct? Thanks,Egeymi (talk) 06:54, 6 September 2012 (UTC)
 * You got it. --Al Ameer son (talk) 17:20, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Hanajira
Graeme Bartlett (talk) 08:02, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Ridwan dynasty
Hello! Your submission of Ridwan dynasty at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Secretlondon (talk) 20:58, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Tafas
Graeme Bartlett (talk) 00:03, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

Hauran
Hi Ameer, there's an IP who's on a crusade to add information about Jewish settlement activity in Hauran in the beginning of the 20th-century (which is fine by me, as long as there are RS and it's NPOV), but I'm concerned that he's using Hebrew websites as references that don't seem RS, and he keeps adding the Hebrew name to the Hauran article which is obviously WP:UNDUE. I thought you might be able to help as I have no experience with these topics at all (settlements, land-ownership mandate era, etc.) and you've been involved in the IP topics for a while so you might know what the correct/consensus language on these issues is. Thank you! Yazan (talk) 14:55, 9 September 2012 (UTC)
 * On another note, I started this article (Anwar Bannud) if you can pass by, perhaps expand, or c/e, that would be great! Yazan (talk) 17:54, 9 September 2012 (UTC)
 * And... this is a compiled list of redlinks I found at a user page, will be very helpful, User:Zozo2kx/Redlinks. Yazan (talk) 18:00, 9 September 2012 (UTC)
 * It looks like Zero000 and others have taken care of the name issue. It is undue weight, just like adding the Greek or Latin names to the intro would be. As for the bit about Jewish ownership, not sure if Israel "claims" those areas, but we could attribute to PIKA in the article their claims to those lands. The source doesn't appear to be unreliable, it looks like a website of Maariv. As for the other Hebrew sources, I can't tell if they're reliable, but either way I don't think we should be exclusively relying on Hebrew language sources for this kind of information. If it's true there should be English-language sources that discuss the matter. I'd recommend removal (perhaps temporarily) pending further verification. I made some c/e edits to the Bannud article and I'll take a look at the list. There are some other names like Muhammad al-Khuli that I want to work on as well. We should probably add that list somewhere for WP:Syria. --Al Ameer son (talk) 21:50, 9 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Question: what is the name of the neighborhood of Quneitra that is listed in the CBS census ? --Al Ameer son (talk) 04:39, 10 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Rasm al-Rawadi. Yazan (talk) 05:03, 10 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Also, take a look at the 1919 Syrian Revolt, we started it from info in Saleh al-Ali, but should be expanded with more details. Yazan (talk) 05:03, 10 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks and I just saw the article, nice work to both of you. I'll add what I can within the next few days. --Al Ameer son (talk) 05:08, 10 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Great article on Khuli. I added predecessor for commander of air force, but as I said in the edit summary, we really should get that table somehow. FYI, see this, and this. Yazan (talk) 00:46, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
 * I know, we have to get a hold of it. I'm not sure if it has everybody though since I think Batatu is concentrating on Syrians who came from the rural areas, but then again it could be that all of those posts were occupied by rural Syrians. Either way, we might have to start digging through different sources to at least make a list of people who filled the various Syrian military and intelligence posts throughout through the years. As for the DYK nom, I understand BHG's concerns, but she's definitely overlooking the important fact that it's ridiculously difficult to find English-language sources on the military/political figures from the Arab world who aren't heads of states. And this does not affect notability since such a rule of thumb is inherently hypocritical. Anyway, if there's no progress on the DYK nom by tomorrow or the day after, perhaps its best to request another reviewer. I'm also going to leave a note for the user who is reviewing the Barad, Syria nom as I think your alternative hook would address her concerns. --Al Ameer son (talk) 05:10, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
 * I left a request for the pages at the resource request page perhaps someone would be nice enough to pick it up from the uni library and scan the pages. There's just so much to do (just between biographies and localities), and so few of us! :( Yazan (talk) 12:17, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Btw Ameer, I started al-Shaykh Saad. It's a very interesting place, and could be expanded quite a bit more I think. Please take a look at it, perhaps c/e and expand if you see fit! Thanks.
 * P. 187 has a picture we can use....for those who are not so "technically challenged", which I seem to be tonigh. Cheers, Huldra (talk) 22:50, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Cropped and added the photo, thanks Huldra. Will also add the info from Yaqut. Yazan (talk) 01:19, 12 September 2012 (UTC)
 * On another note, Ameer, could you also restore the talk page of Al-Darbasiyah that was deleted today. Yazan (talk) 01:29, 12 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Nice article on Sheikh Sa'ad! There's some tidbits of info on the village that I've found in google books which can be added later. We definetely need more editors to conquer the Syria topic area, but we're doing pretty well so far ;) I guess there was a mistake regarding al-Darbasiyah and another town article, but they've been restored. On another note, I just started Adwan, Syria but I can't find its population in the census. Could you add it? --Al Ameer son (talk) 19:42, 12 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Done! Yazan (talk) 08:07, 13 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Ridwan dynasty
PanydThe muffin is not subtle 16:03, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Sayf ad-Din Inal
PanydThe muffin is not subtle 00:03, 10 September 2012 (UTC)

Military history coordinator election
The Military history WikiProject has started its 2012 project coordinator election process, where we will select a team of coordinators to organize the project over the coming year. If you would like to be considered as a candidate, please submit your nomination by 14 September. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact one of the current coordinators on their talk page. This message was delivered here because you are a member of the Military history WikiProject. – Military history coordinators (about the project • what coordinators do) 08:33, 10 September 2012 (UTC)

Re: Palestinian Protests
Hi Ameer! Good to "see" you again. I had been watching for this article for a while, but had not had the chance to do anything about it. You've done a great job at expanding it! --Fjmustak (talk) 06:32, 12 September 2012 (UTC)


 * By the way, were you contacted about a researh project by Oxford and AU Sharjah? Here is some info about it... --Fjmustak (talk) 18:47, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Jindires
Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:03, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Muzayrib
PanydThe muffin is not subtle 16:02, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Najran
Yngvadottir (talk) 00:02, 13 September 2012 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for September 13
Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited Al-Awhad Ayyub, you added links pointing to the disambiguation pages Al-Jazira and Al-Afdal (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ* Join us at the DPL WikiProject.

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 11:01, 13 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK
Hi Ameer, added the population to Saqba and replied at my talk page. Just wanted to remind you to nom Muhammad al-Khuli to DYK before the deadline. Cheers. Yazan (talk) 19:28, 14 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Tell Shihab
Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:04, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Jayrud
Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:05, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!
Thanks doc ;) I appreciate it. --Al Ameer son (talk) 16:59, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Tell Aran
The DYK project (nominate) 16:06, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Battle of al-Mazraa
The DYK project (nominate) 16:02, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Al-Mazraa
The DYK project (nominate) 16:02, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for September 20
Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that you've added some links pointing to disambiguation pages. Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ* Join us at the DPL WikiProject.


 * Taftanaz (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver)
 * added a link pointing to Hittite


 * Tell Sultan (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver)
 * added a link pointing to Saif ad-Din

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 11:01, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Assal al-Ward
The DYK project (nominate) 16:03, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Hit, Syria
Hello! Your submission of Hit, Syria at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Allen3 talk 10:02, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

Syria's peasantry
Check your dropbox for an early christmas gift :). A friend of mine was able to get it scanned at his Uni Library in Tokyo. This should come in very handily! Careful though, it's a 150MB file. Yazan (talk) 12:46, 22 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Shukran jazeelan y'akhi! Thank your friend for me as well. This will definitely help us a great deal. It's a very comprehensive book. --Al Ameer son (talk) 19:22, 22 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Btw, do take a look at Abd al-Karim al-Jundi, could use some copyediting, I suppose. Yazan (talk) 09:06, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Taftanaz
Hello! Your submission of Taftanaz at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Road Wizard (talk) 00:27, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Khan Dannun
The DYK project (nominate) 08:03, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

GA Articles
Hello Ameer, I've been thinking that while it's good we're starting so many starts on Syria, perhaps we can focus on bringing some important articles to GA status? You have a great deal of experience with biographies, I was thinking someone like Khalid al-Azm, Shukri al-Quwatli or Hashim al-Atassi should have much better articles. What do you think? Yazan (talk) 13:06, 23 September 2012 (UTC)
 * I'd love to work on Shukri al-Quwatli's article, it has very little info as it stands now and would be easier to rework and expand. Do you have Moubayed's bio on him? --Al Ameer son (talk) 17:03, 23 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Great, we can work on a draft somewhere first and see how it goes. I actually do have Moubayed's "biography", but it only covers until the 1949 coup. Which is okay, I guess, we will need more sources anyway. Problem is, I'm not sure how to scan the book, and send it over. Will check with my university if they have some sort of an easy way to scan books. Otherwise, I can start writing about early life, and you can work on the later parts. Yazan (talk) 17:12, 23 September 2012 (UTC)
 * One more important book we can use, is Khalid al-Azm's memoirs. But that's only in Arabic. :) Yazan (talk) 17:13, 23 September 2012 (UTC)
 * That's fine. Go ahead and start the draft page and I'll add to it. --Al Ameer son (talk) 17:23, 23 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Draft is here. Yazan (talk) 12:38, 24 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Hi Ameer, I'm gonna be adding a lot more detailed account of his early nationalist activities (for example his relationship with al-Fatat -he certainly wasn't a co-founder, he joined much later on 1915 I think- and his arrests in Ottoman times -there were three of them, all notable in their context-). So much of your edits, I'm afraid will be lost. To avoid this, I think you should work on another part while I finish the draft for the sections I have detailed accounts of, and then we can go through them together (summarize, if there are too much details, and corroborate with other sources). What do you think?
 * I just don't want us to be wasting energy on the same thing! Yazan (talk) 04:18, 25 September 2012 (UTC)
 * When you say "another part" do you mean post-1949? I think I could write about Quwatli from that point until the early 1960s, but not much about him beyond that since all the google book previews I've come across become inaccessible when it gets to his early life. Also, wasn't al-Fatat founded in 1916? --Al Ameer son (talk) 04:28, 25 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes, post-1949, his second presidency (1955-1958) and his role in the union. I think you already have a lot of sources on that from the Nasser article. Al-Fatat was founded in 1911 actually, and was a secret society until going public in 1916. Yazan (talk) 04:59, 25 September 2012 (UTC)
 * On another note, I can't seem to find any reference to the Muluki Academy that Moubayed mentions. I asked him about it and this was his reply:
 * "As for his education, Muluki is how we say it in Arabic. Some sources, like Khoury, refer to it as Mulukiyya. Abdullah Khani would know exactly what the name was, since he worked by Quwatli's side for years. I don't have much info about that period, except that he was a loner in college, but alas, not much more. I will look into it however."
 * So not sure what to do with it. If it was really that prestigious, as one would assume, we'd have some mention of it somewhere, I reckon! That's why I added the "dubious" tag for now. Yazan (talk) 05:02, 25 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Ahh, good to know. I wrote about one his colleagues, Izzat Darwaza, who was an important member of the group. As for Muluki Academy, just made a quick search in google books but found nothing unfortunately. I tried several different spellings, but nothing. Anyway, I'll start work on the latter part of the article tomorrow and we could figure out the Muluki situation later on. Hopefully Mr. Moubayed will able to clarify it. --Al Ameer son (talk) 05:16, 25 September 2012 (UTC)
 * FYI, I've added several articles/books to a new subfolder in Dropbox, that I think could be of interest. Cheers. Yazan (talk) 10:17, 28 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Thank you, I'll add what I can. Nice job filling out the Early life sections, very detailed. --Al Ameer son (talk) 19:18, 28 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Al-Shaykh Saad
Yngvadottir (talk) 21:21, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Al-Awhad Ayyub
Casliber (talk · contribs) 00:02, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Hit, Syria
Casliber (talk · contribs) 00:04, 25 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Muhammad al-Khuli
Graeme Bartlett (talk) 00:04, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for September 27
Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited Deir al-Bukht, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Abd al-Malik (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ* Join us at the DPL WikiProject.

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 10:15, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Anwar Bannud
Casliber (talk · contribs) 16:04, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

Protests in Gaza
Salam, user. I think you should know this.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/26/us-palestinians-hamas-death-idUSBRE88P0RI20120926

Myronbeg (talk) 04:38, 28 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Salaamat. Thanks for the update, I'll add the info to 2012 Palestinian protests. Unfortunately, I've been neglecting to complete the Timeline of that article and have yet to create a Background section. I don't think it's getting much attention on Wiki. Also, until your message, I had thought the protests had all but ended. --Al Ameer son (talk) 05:29, 28 September 2012 (UTC)

Glad to. But I have a lot of infamous and inactive Arab Revolt protests like Morocco, Kuwait, Jordan and Sudan need to be updated. The rest I leave it to those who are actively updating the respective country. I will send some links and intel in case if anybody forgot about those events.

But isn't this article should merge with this one? I wonder why the two articles had to be separated. Myronbeg (talk) 10:27, 28 September 2012 (UTC)


 * I think the two were completely separate from each other, with different causes. The 2011 protests were to demand unity between Hamas and Fatah, while the recent protests look to be focused on salaries and living standards and demand the downfall of Fayyad and Abbas. Also, none of the sources used mention a link between the two. If you have reliable sources that do, then I think the articles could be merged. --Al Ameer son (talk) 19:11, 28 September 2012 (UTC)

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=525365 Myronbeg (talk) 14:32, 2 October 2012 (UTC)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i3cqb_2R9EMpKx9azJZ2nIJha8NA?docId=CNG.f31358aea7c19f04d766f5c6c315e488.4a1 Myronbeg (talk) 04:59, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

DYK: Jeptha Vining Harris (Mississippi)
I thought I should let you know that I added a citation as you suggested to the article that is the subject of the DYK nomination that you reviewed. Thanks. Donner60 (talk) 08:18, 28 September 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Mahajjah
— Crisco 1492 (talk) 16:04, 29 September 2012 (UTC)

Hassan II Mosque
Planning on developing this for DYK soon. Your input into it would be warmly appreciated for such a major mosque.♦ Dr. Blofeld  17:26, 1 October 2012 (UTC)

Thanks. You might find something for Ain Zhalta, time permitting.♦ Dr. Blofeld  12:12, 2 October 2012 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Deir al-Bukht
Hello! Your submission of Deir al-Bukht at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! — ZjarriRrethues — talk 18:52, 1 October 2012 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Ghabaghib
Hello! Your submission of Ghabaghib at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Redtigerxyz Talk 17:36, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Deir al-Bukht
Graeme Bartlett (talk) 00:02, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for October 4
Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited Deir al-Bukht, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Al-Walid (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ* Join us at the DPL WikiProject.

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 13:55, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Al-Fu'ah
Casliber (talk) 00:05, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Maarrat Misrin
Casliber (talk) 00:05, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

The Bugle: Issue LXXVIII, September 2012
The Bugle is published by the Military history WikiProject. To receive it on your talk page, please join the project and/or sign up here. If you are a project member who does not want delivery, please remove your name from this page. Your editors, Nick-D (talk) and Ed [talk] [majestic titan] 20:21, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

"Israel and Palestine" titles
I noticed you List of mosques in Israel and the Palestinian territories to List of mosques in Israel and Palestine. Should these and Russian Orthodox properties in Palestine be moved also? Emmette Hernandez Coleman (talk) 23:26, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Taftanaz
— Crisco 1492 (talk) 08:35, 6 October 2012 (UTC)

Marrakesh
Hi, user:Dr. Blofeld told me to ask you that should "Marrakesh" or French Marrakech be used as English spelling of the word? The discussion is at Talk:Marrakech. Khestwol (talk) 20:33, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

Abuwtiyuw
Can you do me a favor. Can you find the Arabic name or whatever and the page of the Cairo Museum (inventory number JE 67573) or something further on it in Arabic or whatever? Its currently a GA candidate and some of the pointers in the review need addressing and it needs a bit of work.♦  Dr. Blofeld  17:22, 12 October 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Abd al-Karim al-Jundi
The DYK project (nominate) 08:02, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for October 14
Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited Teir Maalah, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page The National (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ* Join us at the DPL WikiProject.

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 10:51, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

Bab al-Nairab
Marhaba Ameer, sorry I've been distracted by other stuff lately. FYI though, see this. It relates to this edit which I reverted. Salamat! Yazan (talk) 04:48, 18 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Marahib y'akhi. Pretty much the same here, work and studies have been taking up most of my time, but I've been sneaking in edits whenever there's a chance. So I guess its wikipedia that's been distracting me ;) I've replied to your thread at Bab al-Nairab and I haven't forgotten about Ra'is Shukri. Extremely interesting era in Syria, a lot of dangerous power play between the CIA, Sarraj, the Ba'ath, the Soviets, the Hashemites, al-Saud and Nasser. It seems Quwatli was the least influential player. --Al Ameer son (talk) 05:11, 18 October 2012 (UTC)
 * P.S. if you have anything on al-Dana, Harem please add, planning on a DYK nom. --Al Ameer son (talk) 05:12, 18 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I know, Wikipedia is a procrastinator's heaven; and my professor's nightmare (everytime he walks into the lab, I seem to be editing something). Sigh.
 * I added a couple of snippets to al-Dana, Harem (btw, why not Al-Dana, Syria?). Page 161 in this] book speaks about another ancient building in the town called "Qasr al-Banat" but I can't access it, maybe you'll have better luck. Also, don't forget to add the biblio info for the Buckingham book before nomming to DYK (my surplus QPQs are in the usual place, if you need them). One last thing, why did you add a Syriac Christianity category to the page?
 * I will get back to Shukri Beik shortly but for the moment I seem to have drifted back into Ancient Near East archaeology (Statue of Ebih-Il -one of my favorite works ever-, Investiture of Zimrilim and Royal Palace of Ugarit; planning Temple of Baal and Temple of Dagan of Ugarit, and the Baal stele found there).
 * Good luck with studies! You're an MD, right? Yazan (talk) 17:44, 18 October 2012 (UTC)
 * One last thing; I think Turmanin could be easily 5x expanded from the stub that was there on the 16th (I added some information then) for DYK.. We just have to do it before 21-22. Yazan (talk) 18:01, 18 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the additions, I couldn't access that page, but Buckingham has a lot more on the ancient ruins, although a more contemporary source would be preferable. I didn't add the "Harem" part; that's how the article was linked in the Idlib Governorate template, probably to distinguish from the smaller al-Dana closer to the city of Idlib. I must have added the Syriac Christianity cat by mistake when I copy-and-pasted the skeleton of another town article to start the page. As for Turmanin, I'll see what I could find on it and hopefully we'll be able to nominate it within a couple of days, but no promises from my end unfortunately. Take your time with Syria's ancient heritage articles, I'll try to start the UAR sections in the Quwatli draft. And as to your question, I'm currently studying for a BA in legal studies, after which I intend to enter law school ;) --Al Ameer son (talk) 19:41, 18 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Ha! Law school... interesting. Not sure why I had the idea that you were in medical school! Best of luck in your studies Ameer.
 * My bad on the Harem addition then. I made the template and must've tried too hard to disamb. Al-Dana needs to be nommed today or tomorrow... will leave it to you since you started the article, but if you're not here by tomorrow will do it myself. Cheers! Yazan (talk) 16:35, 21 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Shukran and I wish you luck with yours ;) Just nominated al-Dana, still need to add a bit about the FSA's control over the town. For the record, never hesitate to nominate an article I started, especially if the deadline approaches. As you may have noticed, I have a tendency to miss them. Salam, --Al Ameer son (talk) 05:48, 22 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Just a reminder to add the Davis source biblio to the Al-Dana article (I couldn't find the book). Cheers Yazan (talk) 16:30, 23 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Marhaba Ameer, you were working on an article about al-Qurayya, in your sandbox, what happened to it? Also, Kafr Takharim should pass DYK if you nominate it today or tomorrow. Yazan (talk) 14:42, 24 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Ahlan Yazan, it's funny you ask. I was just thinking about nominating it. I think I wanted to add more info before moving it, but it could pass DYK the way it stands now. I also have Sahwat al-Khadr in the waiting as well. I was planning to nominate Kafr Takharim but was trying to find some historical info on it, to no luck. On a separate note, what do you think about starting categories on "Towns in Syria" for nahiya centers and "Villages in Syria" for the other villages? --Al Ameer son (talk) 01:15, 25 October 2012 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Bab al-Nairab
Hello! Your submission of Bab al-Nairab at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and some issues with it may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Prioryman (talk) 06:40, 18 October 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Bab al-Nairab
Graeme Bartlett (talk) 00:02, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for October 21
Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that you've added some links pointing to disambiguation pages. Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ* Join us at the DPL WikiProject.


 * Bab al-Nairab (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver)
 * added a link pointing to Turkoman


 * Kafr Takharim (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver)
 * added a link pointing to Abu Talha


 * Salaheddine district (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver)
 * added a link pointing to Crusader

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 15:39, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

DYK nomination of al-Dana, Syria
Hello! Your submission of al-Dana, Syria at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and some issues with it may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! (also, sorry for the delay, I forgot to leave this last night) Hers fold  non-admin (t/a/c) 15:13, 22 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I've replied to most issues and added QPQ to the nom. I've also added biblio info for Buckingham; but I couldn't find the Davis book you cited, so you'll have to add it. Cheers. Yazan (talk) 16:00, 22 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Took me forever to find it, but I added it to the article finally. Thanks for addressing those other issues. Salam, --Al Ameer son (talk) 01:44, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Barad, Syria
The DYK project (nominate) 08:03, 23 October 2012 (UTC)

The Bugle: Issue LXXIX, October 2012
The Bugle is published by the Military history WikiProject. To receive it on your talk page, please join the project or sign up here. If you are a project member who does not want delivery, please remove your name from this page. Your editors, Nick-D (talk) and Ian Rose (talk) 02:11, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

Request for your input
Another editor wrote Ya`fūr, a spin-off from the Innocence of Muslims controversy. It was frankly not a very good article and I've completely rewritten it. I'd be grateful if a knowledgeable person could have a look over it and correct any mistakes. Also, it's up for the Did You Know? box on the Main Page; there's an outstanding nomination at Template:Did you know nominations/Ya`fur that needs a review. I'd appreciate any input you could provide. Prioryman (talk) 23:59, 25 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Hey Prioryman. The article looks pretty good, couldn't find anything to correct on my first two reads. Honestly, the whole subject has been educational for me. I had never heard Ya'fur, and it was actually pretty humorous to find out some early Arab leaders were nicknamed donkey (himar) since it's normally regarded as an insult word by Arabic-speakers, at least in Palestine. I took a swing at the DYK nom and unless I've missed something, I'm passing it. Regards, --Al Ameer son (talk) 19:26, 26 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks very much for your feedback and your review. Yes, I thought it was amusing that "donkey" was apparently seen as an acceptable nickname at one time - it's not just in Palestine that it's seen as an insult now. I wonder why opinions changed? Or perhaps they didn't; maybe it was only seen as non-insulting in the context of the Prophet's donkey. Prioryman (talk) 21:50, 26 October 2012 (UTC)
 * You're probably right in that last point. For me it was especially strange that Muslim Arabs would be nicknamed himar. In pre-Islamic times supposedly derogatory animal names like "Kalb" (dog), "Humayr" (donkeys) and "Jahsh" ("mule") were prevalent in Arabia, but this largely stopped following the advent of Islam. Anyway, thanks for a interesting read. --Al Ameer son (talk) 00:07, 27 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Glad you enjoyed it! By the way, there's one more point you could clear up for me: I came across conflicting versions of what the name Ya`fūr means in English but went for "deer" in the end (the alternative I came across was "gazelle"). Which do you think is accurate? Prioryman (talk) 23:38, 27 October 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Al-Dana, Syria
Graeme Bartlett (talk) 08:04, 26 October 2012 (UTC)

Eid Mubarak
كل عام وانت بخير يا أخي  nableezy  - 00:08, 27 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Wa inta b'kheir, ya akhi. Salam --Al Ameer son (talk) 00:18, 27 October 2012 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for October 28
Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited Second Crusade, you added links pointing to the disambiguation pages Turk and Turkoman (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ* Join us at the DPL WikiProject.

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 10:55, 28 October 2012 (UTC)

discussion
There's a discussion you might want to participate in at Talk:Human_rights_in_the_Palestinian_National_Authority. Emmette Hernandez Coleman (talk) 16:26, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

Al-Qurayya
FYI. Also, a belated Eid Sa'eed to you and your loved ones Amir. :) Yazan (talk) 19:32, 2 November 2012 (UTC)
 * And to you and yours, ya akhi. I hope your family is safe and perseveres in these trying times and I pray that all of our Syrian brothers and sisters finally find a way out of the bloody turmoil and bask fi izz al-hurriya wal karama. And thanks for nominating al-Qurayya, almost missed another one! Salam ;) --Al Ameer son (talk) 22:21, 2 November 2012 (UTC)
 * One day, we'll sit down and talk about these days, preferably over a glass of tea and some Kunafeh :) But for now, could you please check up on this user (User:Latristelagrima). I've sent him several notes, but he's not listening, and his account will probably be blocked soon. His edits aren't in bad faith per se, but they are disruptive all the same. Like this page, for example (Aleppine People). Yazan (talk) 02:46, 3 November 2012 (UTC)
 * And with an argile, of course. As for L I've already noticed some of his edits, and I pretty much agree with your assessment. I see Materialscientist has already given him a warning. Hopefully he heeds it. Either way, I'd like to help him out a bit eventually. He could turn out to be a positive contributor for a Syria Wikiproject which certainly could use more editors. But I'm really stretched for time until this coming Thursday, so I doubt I'll get to it this week. Aleppine People should be nominated for speedy deletion. --Al Ameer son (talk) 05:04, 3 November 2012 (UTC)
 * I nominated Aleppine People for deletion for being a blatant hoax (although I'm not sure it satisfies that). A Demographics of Aleppo article could be imagined, but it would need very strong sources, and much more effort than I can spare at the moment. Oh, and ofcourse with an Argileh and some Manaqish! :) Yazan (talk) 06:18, 3 November 2012 (UTC)

Another discussion
Concerning that you made this edit, you might want to participate in this discussion. Emmette Hernandez Coleman (talk) 19:34, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

Incomplete DYK nomination
Hello! Your submission of Template:Did you know nominations/Abd al-Wahab al-Shawaf at the Did You Know nominations page is not complete; see step 3 of the nomination procedure. If you do not want to continue with the nomination, tag the nomination page with db-g7, or ask a DYK admin. Thank you. DYKHousekeepingBot (talk) 05:10, 3 November 2012 (UTC)

al-Shawaf
Hello! The article is, as I said, good. If you intend to bring it to GA, though, I'd suggest creating a separate paragraph at the beginning of the "Coup plot" section dealing with the political and ideological movements in the Arab world at the time that would help understand the situation (for example, that the very name "Free Officers" imitated the Egyptian example). The divisions between Qasim and the Nasserists must have been evident already in the Free Officers phase, or not? Plus perhaps, if you can manage it, expand a bit on how al-Shawaf is seen today in Iraq. Constantine  ✍  09:31, 4 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the feedback. I'll add more context later today or tomorrow. However, I think I'm going to need more sources for a GA (for early life and legacy). You're right about the "Free Officers" following the Egyptian model. They actually came to Nasser for guidance, but were apparently snubbed despite the severe hatred between Nasser and the mutual enemy royalist PM Nuri al-Said. Nonetheless, one of the group's leaders, Abdul Salam Arif, was a staunch supporter of Nasser and immedietely after the coup traveled to UAR terrutory to announce revolutionary Iraq's intention to join the union. Qasim had other plans in mind, however, and as far I have read over the years, the animosity between Qasim and the Nasserist officers began after the overthrow of the Iraqi royal family and not during the planning stages when difference must have been put aside. --Al Ameer son (talk) 17:53, 4 November 2012 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for November 4
Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited Beit Sawa, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Douma (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ* Join us at the DPL WikiProject.

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 10:38, 4 November 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Ghabaghib
Graeme Bartlett (talk) 16:03, 4 November 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Al-Qurayya
Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:02, 6 November 2012 (UTC)