Talk:Homs

Homs

homs

Kadesh, is not the same as Homs, Kadesh is a near by town known today as Tel Al-Nabi Mand.

Siege of the Industrial Zone

There is no way to properly document the incident of beatings. I stated the beatings as reports which is true. I personally know people who were present that day and were beaten up. I personaly got beaten up while inline waiting for my goverment issued ID. It was typical even in normal times. That incident is a fact., the Military intellgence forces rounded up the industrial zone and gave everyone a beating as a show of power. I say its proper to be mentioned as it bruzed the memory of the people of Homs. I am hoping that you are not asking for judicial statement from the syrian goverent to admit it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Syrianhomsi (talk • contribs) 08:49, 7 March 2007 (UTC).

I remain highly skeptical of this. Like I said earlier, the source provided is comparable to a blog, and it does not form a reliable source for information. I will not remove your edits, but I would appreciate a better source, with credibility being a main requirement. Asabbagh 09:06, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

I found more refrences on the internet describing the incident. nothing scholary which is to be expected given the nature of new reporting in police state. Thanks Asabbagh.

Homs

homs is very old city it was named Emissa in a very old history. here we have somethings very butiful but it's so boring too we do'nt have any thing to have fun i wish to live in Damascuse

Lol! I got friends there that tell me it isn't boring though.. I will visit to verify this! Asabbagh 00:20, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Image

We need an image, preferably a skyline image like one of the images shown here. And also a map as stated above. Thanks. Asabbagh 03:33, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

I recently visited Homs and have some lovely photos from around the city, and of some of the sights. Also, Homs is not boring at all. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mackay qpr (talk • contribs) 14:07, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

massacre in Homs

Assad led a massacre in Homs around 1982 and killed 25,000 people. It's not mentioned in a single word. 132.69.228.88 21:14, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

That was in hama moron —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.229.241.180 (talk) 11:14, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

Pictures are all free license now

All pictures in this article have now been checked to insure that they are free license and do not have any copyright restrictions. Please ensure that any pictures you add or edit in the future, conform to some form of free license agreement, thanks.

Haxxor23 15:21, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Good job, but there's a small issue; the map is actually for the governorate, not the city, and it would be better if we had an image for the city, a skyline view for example. Asabbagh 06:35, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Homs or Hims

I think we should rename the article to "Hims". All the sources I've used in my recent expansion have used that name as well as this one on mosques of Hims[1]. What's the argument to keep it as "Homs", is it local dialect or something (which doesn't justify it by the way)? --Al Ameer son (talk) 07:29, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

I actually agree. I don't think it's the local accent, it has more to do with the french pronunciation (Something like Lattakia vs. Latakia). But a quick search reveals that Hims is more common, and it is what the Britannica Online uses.Yazan (talk) 11:32, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Ok then I'll move it now. --Al Ameer son (talk) 17:33, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

I challenge the designation of Homs as Hims, because, as it happens, wherever I take a look into English-language literature it is Homs all the way. We need to do a real search following more closely WP guidelines. Gun Powder Ma (talk) 16:32, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

• On 26 February 2009, Al Ameer son asked for speedy renaming of the Homs categories, here, without further discussion the categories were moved. In August 2010 there was a full discussion on this page, under Requested move, followed by an open forum at Categories for discussion, the result Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2010 September 6#Category:Hims was to return the categories to their original names. --Bejnar (talk) 15:32, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

Population Data

Numbers of population and sea level are different between the infobox and the text, can we find any citation? --Ciphers (talk) 13:07, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

I can't find a citation, but I updated the elevation from Google Earth. Yazan (talk) 13:32, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. That about population? --Ciphers (talk) 13:49, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

I found this site [2] but it only lists recent figures for the governorate, the most recent figures for the city go back to 1994. I will update with that until we get a better source, because the sources in the article obviously refer to the whole governorate. Yazan (talk) 14:02, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

I think we should use the 2005 estimate provided in the Cities of the Middle East book we've been using. It states a population of 750,000. 1994 is just too long ago (14 years). --Al Ameer son (talk) 23:33, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Updated. Yazan (talk) 02:15, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for both of you --Ciphers (talk) 02:32, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Back to the current population. So far, I've found that the Syria and Lebanon book says Hims has a population of 823,000 (p.156). It was published in 2008. Another book, The Middle East and North Africa 2004 lists a population of about 811,000 (p.1041). Which should we use! There's a big gap between 750,000 and 823,000. --Al Ameer son (talk) 05:31, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

I would say use lonely planet, as the most recent publication. Yazan (talk) 05:44, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

To-do list

The following is a list of aspects this article is currently missing or existing aspects that need to be expanded/improved.

•  Done - Starting an "Etymology" section about the name of the city throughout history and how it came to be known as "Hims/Homs".

Started section.. still needs expanding and more sources.

•  Done - Slightly expanding the Christian era of the city.
•  Done - In the "Geography" section, the size of the city (hectares, dunams) should be mentioned, as well as
•  Done - a mention of the surrounding towns and villages.
• The "Demographics" section needs to be expanded greatly. It should discuss the city's population throughout the decades/centuries, age distribution, gender distribution (how many are males or females), the religious groups of the city.

I added a subsection for "Forign Communities" but still need more expansion. --Ciphers (talk) 02:47, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for that info segment, but I think it's best we merge it with the main section, because there's not too many non-Syrians living in the city. However, there is a sizable Palestinian refugee community living in a camp within the city limits and that's already mentioned in the section. We don't need to go any further about the Palestinians in the article though because there is a separate article on the camp (Hims camp). On a separate not, we're pretty much finished with the historic population and religious groups of the city. Of course we could/should expand on it, but we have enough for a GA. --Al Ameer son (talk) 03:57, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the reply. Sure, go ahead for merging. --Ciphers (talk) 06:45, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Merged! Ciphers, do you happen to know any place where we can get a list of former governors? Yazan (talk) 07:12, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

I contacted my friend in hims to provide me with some data, will ask him for this one too when he reply :( --Ciphers (talk) 08:08, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

• The "Economy" section looks good, but could be slightly expanded.
• Expand "Culture" section. Does Hims have any crafts or arts that's native of the city i.e. Hebron glass to Hebron or Nabulsi soap to Nablus. I will add info on the museums of the city too.

Started Museums section, needs to be expanded though.

•  Done - Starting a "Government" section, discussing the establishment of a local government in the city, the municipal council structure, a list of mayors, etc.

Started, copyedit is in order. List of Mayors still pending.

• Expanding the "Education" section to include information on the public schools of Hims, the literacy rate, the amount of people that attend school.

Updated with some scraps of info found on SANA, copyedit?

•  Done - Sister cities - Does Hims have any? Probably does, we just need to look.

Started section, needs more research.

As long as we got a list of some cities with twinning agreements then we're good. I tried hard looking but I couldn't find anything. You should check the municipality page for a possible link on sister cities.

•  Done - Expand "Transportation" subsection.

I wrote more on the forms of public transportation, but we need info on the major roads and famous streets.

I've written on the major streets, but I have no sources except Google Earth and my own personal experience there. Would you please copyedit?!

• Start a subsection on "Medical centers"
•  Done - Lead; the last thing we should do is write up a lead to summarize the article in a far-reaching, but concise matter.

Went ahead and did it because we have all the info we need to summarize on the city in a brief lead.

--Al Ameer son (talk) 02:47, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

GA nomination?

I added a paragraph on Education statistics, it may need some copyediting. I've been skimming through some other GA articles, and I think we have enough to nominate (if Ashdod can pass?), what do you think? Yazan (talk) 19:01, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Hm, refs may need to be completely filled out, and I'll try to copyedit some. Spencer^T♦C 22:54, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

Okay, I've done pretty much all I can with the web cites. Can we use a better word than "boasts" to describe things in Hims? It's used three times. Spencer^T♦C 23:27, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

That's done. For ref 77, can we find a source other than the Arabic Wikipedia? Spencer^T♦C 01:12, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Same with the ref for Kayseri as the sister city. Spencer^T♦C 01:19, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

(edit conflict) The article looks great, and better everyday. There are some minor issues remaining, however, they shouldn't hinder a GA nomination. First, do we have any info on the hospitals of Hims (how many, which one is the major one), the fire department, utilities (water and electricity)? We don't need to have subsections on the above-mentioned subjects since I know it's been rather difficult to gather sources for the modern city, but if we have any info on them, we should add it just beneath the main "Local infrastructure" section. Second, the article might need to be looked over from top to bottom for copyedditing, although I've noticed Spencer has been taking care of this. This only leaves the "citation needed" tag for Al-Karamah being the "one of the oldest sports clubs in Asia". You should go ahead and get the GA nomination started because it might take a few days or even weeks for an article to get checked. By the way, Ashdod is not an ideal GA, this article is much better ;) --Al Ameer son (talk) 01:31, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

I put the citation needed tag; I'm having difficulty finding a ref for this, and I'm going to hide that mention. In addition, except for the wikipedia ref for the Kayseri sister city, I can't find a ref for that either. Perhaps refs for these can be found in paper sources. Spencer^T♦C 01:53, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

I couldn't find a ref for Kayseri either. What do you mean paper source? Like an offline one? --Al Ameer son (talk) 03:00, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Nominated! Yazan (talk) 09:37, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Yes, an online one. Internet searches weren't revealing anything, so I thought a book might have something. Spencer^T♦C 22:00, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

(unindent) Can someone help me find some refs for the first paragraph in Hims#Ottoman_rule? We need to make sure all paragraphs have at least 1 ref. Spencer^T♦C 03:01, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Oops, I must have missed it. It was Dumper, 2007, p.173 and I went ahead and added it. --Al Ameer son (talk) 23:55, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Is there a ref for Hims' nickname, "The city of Ibn al-Walid"? An internet search netted no results. Spencer^T♦C 20:33, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

It is a translation from arabic, مدينة ابن الوليد. Yazan (talk) 21:25, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Gotcha. A search of that in quotes gives a couple thousand results. Spencer^T♦C 22:56, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Does anyone know the nearest airports to Hims? This should be mentioned before its reviewed. --Al Ameer son (talk) 07:24, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

Sorry for taking a long time to respond, off-Wiki. Damascus International Airport is the closes major airport to Hims. Bassel Al-Assad International Airport is closer but it offers limited flights to a few destinations only. Yazan (talk) 08:07, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

Congratualtions everyone! Promoted... :)Yazan (talk) 05:05, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: page moved. Vegaswikian (talk) 22:50, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

---

Hims → Homs — and related articles per WP:UE (use English) and WP:UCN (use common names).

It was moved to its current location without (much) discussion[3]. Most of the references in the article use the English form, Homs (e.g., Historical dictionary of Syria, Placenames of the world). Most of the relevant local websites also use this form (homsonline.com, www.homschamber.org.sy). Even tour guides that normally favour native forms over English ones use Homs (e.g., Rough GuidesFootprint.

A related discussion is also underway at Talk:Hims Gap. — AjaxSmack 00:55, 20 August 2010 (UTC)

Survey and discussion

• Support: When I created the Lake Homs Dam article, all scholarly references listed used Homs. Gun Powder Ma (talk) 01:10, 20 August 2010 (UTC)
• Support Official Syrian sources use Homs, see for example Minstry of Tourism, official news agency (SANA), and Central Bureau of Statistics. Over the years "Homs" has always been used. Only recently I'm seeing "Hims" pop up in some places, probably due to some maps adding the transliteration, which is taken from Classical Arabic by the way, since all local dialects pronounce it as "Homs". -- Orionist ★ talk 13:30, 20 August 2010 (UTC)
• Support as usage. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 16:11, 20 August 2010 (UTC)
• Support as above, as the majority usage. "Hims" does appear on some newer maps. --Bejnar (talk) 17:16, 20 August 2010 (UTC)
• Support, "Homs" is the most common name. --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 10:27, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

After the move

It seems that the after this article was first moved (from Homs to Hims) many related articles were moved in the same way (example) and most instances in their text were similarly changed. It is very unfortunate considering the effort that was put into it, especially since such "blanket" moves are usually unnecessary. And of course it should've been discussed first.

Now, should we look for these articles and do a "blanket revert"? And if we do so, is there a bot or any fast method to do such a thing? Any ideas would be helpful. -- Orionist ★ talk 10:23, 27 August 2010 (UTC)

In my view, any move which was based on the move of this very article should be undone the same way, that is without further discussion. Gun Powder Ma (talk) 16:06, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

• In order to restore the categories that use Homs, there is a current discussion at: Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2010 September 6#Category:Hims. --Bejnar (talk) 03:54, 9 September 2010 (UTC)

What about this article: Jund Hims ? Was this Jund called Hims or Homs? --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 10:10, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

This was the name of one of the districts in the age of the Caliphate, and it is transliterated (rather than translated) from "Classic" Arabic. If you look at the articles of the other "Junds", they are all transliterated. Hence "Dimashq" for Damascus and "al-Urdunn" for Jordan. So in this case, I think it should stay as "Hims". -- Orionist ★ talk 22:54, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

I agree Jund Hims seems to be the preferred usage. --Bejnar (talk) 15:42, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

"Acre and Haifa areas"

Please direct your attention to the third paragraph in the "Demographics" section. There's a sentence there that reads, "Most of its residents are originally from the Acre and Haifa areas in northern Palestine.[55]" The ref is to "Homs Refugee Camp". 1. Clicking on the link redirects to unrwa.org. This is a recurring problem with UNRWA webpages, but someone should try to determine the current URL. 2. Why are Acre and Haifa described as areas in "northern Palestine" and not "northern Israel"? There must a valid reason for this, seeing as the article made GA with that sentence, but I'd still appreciate an explanation.—Biosketch (talk) 10:39, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

Because the refugees are from "northern Palestine"; the state of Israel did bot exist when they lived there. RolandR (talk) 21:53, 19 May 2011 (UTC)

Population numbers in infobox

Do anynone know where the population numbers in the infobox come from? The population number for metro is the same as the population number for the whole governate, so it's obviously wrong. The number quoted in the text (823,000) appears more reasonable, but it seems like we're lacking really good sources here? – Danmichaelo (talk) 11:51, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

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Humus

in Ottoman Turkish (& in Modern Turkish!) Böri (talk) 14:48, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Siege in lead section

Al Ameer son shortened the portion of the lead section about the current uprising, siege, and bombardment from a 3-sentence paragraph to one sentence at the end of the previous paragraph. His revision comment: "Reduce per WP:UNDUE. The lead is supposed to summarize Homs and having an entire passage about its role in the current uprising is undue weight. The current bit could be revised, but please keep it as short or shorter"

I believe that the 3-sentence paragraph was not WP:UNDUE. 20, 50, or 100 years from now, whatever happens in the meantime, the uprising, siege, and bombardment will still play a huge role in the history of Homs. Just look at the video footage that has come out; major parts of the city are completely destroyed. To compare, the lead section on Hama has 3 sentences on anti-Baath uprisings and the fallout from those. Dresden's lead section has 3 sentences on its bombing during WWII and that was 70 years ago. --Nstrauss (talk) 22:23, 21 February 2012 (UTC)

Whatever the case in Homs we shouldn't have more than one sentence in the lead describing its current uprising. Homs has rebelled against the rulers of Syria for centuries and this current rebellion will likely change Homs' future (negatively or positively depending on the outcome) but no single event or phenomenon in the city's history should warrant more than a sentence in the lead section. I'm personally a supporter of the ongoing revolution, but we need to stick to NPOV and particularly WP:Undue. This article is rated GA while your examples Dresden and Hama are of lesser quality. If you want to compare articles, look at London or Hong Kong for example. The former was nearly destroyed in WWII, but its article lead doesn't even mention it. --Al Ameer son (talk) 23:53, 21 February 2012 (UTC)

There is no rule that a single event only gets one sentence in a lead. In my opinion, it should depend on the historic significance of the event compared to the significance of other events and aspects of the subject. London is not comparable because it is much bigger with with a broader history and other aspects that eclipse the significance of the WWII bombings. Also, I could be wrong, but based on footage I've seen of both bombardments (Homs and London), Homs has been more significant in proportion to the size of the city. (I don't understand your reference to Hong Kong, by the way.) Point taken about Hama and Dresden not being rated GA, but are you seriously saying that their leads put undue weight on their respective bombings? Both of those cities will long be known for their bombings, as will Homs - am I wrong? Other comparable examples are Benghazi (3 sentences) and Hiroshima. Although Hiroshima has only one sentence on the nuclear bomb, it's the second sentence and it's one of only four. Also, in my opinion the Hiroshima lead could be expanded generally as it is too short. Finally, evidence of the relative significance of the Homs siege and bombardment can be found in Google Trends, which shows a huge spike since the uprising began - and the background can probably attributed to Hospital Metropolitano de Santiago (HOMS). --Nstrauss (talk) 17:46, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Hiroshima and Benghazi are also not GAs, not sure that the damage in Homs is greater than 1940s London and I mentioned Hong Kong because it took a huge blow as a result of the Japanese invasion in WWII and its article is GA status. As for the level of damage in Homs, we don't know how vast and, specifically, widespread the destruction is. We know the people there are suffering dearly, we know that neighborhoods like Baba Amr and Khalidiyeh have been heavily damaged, especially the former, and over 1,000 people have been killed. But the city has not been destroyed (not even close to Hama in 1982). From being the center of the Emesani dynasty, capital of Jund Hims, a strategically/politically important city in the Middle Ages, an industrial center in Syria during Ottoman and modern times, Homs has had an extensive history. I really don't think there could be a good argument about giving the current unrest more than a good summary sentence like the other important facts mentioned in the lead, let alone a separate paragraph. Keep in mind, we're also talking about recent events. As of now, we have a good amount of info in the body which could be expanded and we have several articles dedicated to the events in Homs: Siege of Homs, February 2012 bombardment of Homs and of course 2011–2012 Syrian uprising. --Al Ameer son (talk) 01:42, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Population figure

Before anyone changes the current population figure again, could they provide an RS to back it? I'm considering requesting a semi-protect lock since the pop has been changed a dozen or more times. I doubt the population is 1.2 million although ~1,000,000 is possible. 1.2 could include nearby towns and villages which presents an inaccurate picture of the actual population. 1.2 could be a metropolitan figure if anything. The 2004 census put Homs' population officially at 652,609. The latest figure we have in the article is 823,000 in 2008 but it comes from a non-governmental source. Does anyone know the latest estimate—backed by a reliable source of course? --Al Ameer son (talk) 00:05, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

Homs has ceased to function as a city. There are only 800 families left, now to be given safe passage out: http://news.sky.com/story/1201369/syria-women-and-children-free-to-leave-homs Shouldn't the population figure be updated to reflect this current reality?108.54.225.253 (talk) 10:47, 27 January 2014 (UTC)

Yes, we should make a note of that. Go ahead and add the info to the lead and the Demographics section. --Al Ameer (talk) 19:09, 27 January 2014 (UTC)

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Expulsion of Christians from Homs

Breakdown: there's an ongoing edit dispute regarding the alleged expulsion of 90% of Homs's Christian population by the FSA or specifically, the Farooq Brigade. When the info was first inserted I found it to be dubious and noticed it was backed by unreliable sources like JihadWatch. I couldn't find any mainstream sources supporting the Orthodox Church's claims except for the Los Angeles Times so I decided to keep the info, but attributed it strictly to the Orthodox Church until more sources could be found. The contradictions to the Church's claims are also coming from activist, and thus unreliable, sources and it seems a few of the editors trying to counter the claims of "90% eviction" are members of that activist organization, Syrian Christians for Democracy. Hopefully, more reliable sources could be found (like Human Rights Watch or Amnesty) to shed more light on this event (if it ever happened.) Before users start edit warring please discuss in this section. Thank you. --Al Ameer son (talk) 21:12, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

Based on what I could find on the organization (very little), I agree. Remove the information as the source is questionable, though if a reliable source picks up and reports the information, then include it. WLU (t) (c) Wikipedia's rules:^simple/_complex 02:05, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

This is not alleged... the surrounding villages of Homs are already flocked by escaping Christians from the city. Catholic Cherald, Global search, Cathnews, The new American--Preacher lad (talk) 04:30, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

I noticed all of those websites when I searched the incident up, but most if not all of those sources would be considered unreliable, especially the Christian websites. The New American, which also isn't the best source, refers to the FSA firstmost as "Obama-backed rebels." The point is I find it very strange that something like the expulsion of 90% of Homs's Christians hasn't even been mentioned in any of the mainstream sources: BBC, Al Jazeera, CNN, TIME, Guardian, FOX News, NY Times, AP, Reuters, etc. One could possibly say since it was carried out by the FSA the "biased media" has ignored it, but what about Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International? The former released a scathing report of human rights violations carried out by anti-government fighters, but I don't believe (unless I'm mistaken) it said anything about the event in question. Therefore, until more mainstream sources could be found backing the Church's claims, we have to attribute those claims strictly to the church. --Al Ameer son (talk) 05:16, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

The Jesuits of Homs reported five days later that there wasn't a forced expulsion of Christians as was reported by the Orthodox church source. Here's the link to the the Jesuit article http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=31262&lan=eng. --Guest2625 (talk) 06:26, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Come on... do you consider BBC, Al Jazeera, CNN, TIME, Guardian, FOX News, NY Times as neutral sources?? They are all backing the armed rebels in Syria... The Guardian was even involved in the ironic fiction about the e-mails of Mr. President al-Assad... We saw how the CNN was involved in the bomb attack on a pipeline near the refinery of Homs! And after all this, do you accept those sources as reliable ones??--Preacher lad (talk) 11:29, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

I cannot accept AlJazeera and its sisters as reliable sources as long as they do not have their own correspondents in Syria. Further more, not being mentioned by those news agencies does not mean that the expulsion did not take place.--Preacher lad (talk) 11:33, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

You aren't calling the Guardian, etc sisters of AlJazeera are you? I think the point is that we have no reliable sources making the claim for this expulsion. And yes, Wikipedia accepts the Guardian, the BBC, CNN etc as reliable sources - if you want to challenge that do it at WP:RSN (where I've brought up your source). In fact the mainstream media is discussing this, see [4] (yes, the NY Times), [5] and [6]. Properly used these are good sources. Dougweller (talk) 12:28, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

• All of those sources I mentioned above, even if some have biased slants, would be considered reliable mainstream sources. As far as correspondents are concerned, I thought they were banned from entering Syria and in any case a few have even been killed trying to report from there, foreign and Syrian. Also, there's been no mention by human rights groups to my knowledge.
• Except for the LA Times which is already being used, the sources Dougweller have brought forth do not mention the expulsion of Christians in Homs. Rather, the Guardian makes a quote of an activist group that some 500,000 people have been displaced in that city and the NY Times talks about the nearby town of al-Qusayr, Syria, not Homs.
• As for the Jesuits claiming that the Christians who have fled were not expelled by Islamists but left at their own initiative out of fear of violence, that's interesting because it was reported to Agenzia Fides. Fides is where the Orthodox Church originally made its claims of forced expulsion so it might be noteworthy to include the Jesuits' version in the article (with attribution of course). In any case, it's more confirmation that nearly all of Homs's Christians have indeed left the city which is significant on its own. --Al Ameer son (talk) 15:08, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Even though, as I mentioned above, not being reported by those media agencies, does not mean that the "fact" of the expulsion did not take place.--Preacher lad (talk) 15:10, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Something disgusting is going on here in Wikipedia. Every statement that's in the favour of the Syrian regime is always being challenged and removed, even if it is referenced by a reliable source. On the other hand, there are bunches of anti-Syrian-regime stories claimed by activists but nobody is asking for the reliability of the sources.--Preacher lad (talk) 15:14, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Of course that is the way things are - do you really think it would be otherwise? Wikipedia is the internet's most important outlet for propaganda. Meowy 20:58, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

If you think that a source is reliable and others disagree, you can always go to WP:RSN and ask. I really do suggest that you read WP:AGF. Our policy on sources is vial to our credibility. Dougweller (talk) 18:11, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Sense

How is it the most notable thing?? Pass a Method talk 00:35, 8 July 2013 (UTC)

Its the the most notable thing, it a major thing, and the first that comes up in news media. Sopher99 (talk) 00:44, 8 July 2013 (UTC)

did you actually compare the sourcces? Pass a Method talk 07:18, 8 July 2013 (UTC)

Yes - the last paragraph is unsourced, while my edition is properly sourced. Sopher99 (talk) 12:35, 8 July 2013 (UTC)

What i meant by comparing sources is a very straightforward application of WP:WEIGHT; quoting that policy, viewpoints are featured "in proportion to the prominence of each viewpoint in the published, reliable sources." A quick Google News search between them shows the keywords in the previous version brings more returns. Pass a Method talk 12:58, 8 July 2013 (UTC)

Needs Updating

The lead section is very much focussed on what Homs was like before the Syrian war. The images and most of the lead give the impression that the city is still roughly the same, despite the fact that much of it has been decimated. I am sure there are some press photos that are copyright free. KingHiggins (talk) 20:08, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

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Area

Where are the figures for the area of the city, it's urban area, and it's metro area coming from? For a country I've had a very hard time finding area figures for - and even just wondering what exactly is being measured as far as local governments are concerned - these seem awfully specific. --Criticalthinker (talk) 10:03, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

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