[Foundation-l] Partecipation in Wikimania 2011

Wed Aug 11 12:06:45 UTC 2010

On 11 August 2010 12:37, Andrea Zanni <zanni.andrea84 at gmail.com> wrote:
> DISCLAIMER: this is a delicate issue that could easily generate a flame. So
> please everybody presume the good faith and stay on topic :-)
>
>
> I don't really know if this issue as been discussed in earlier threads (I
> subscribed to this list after Gdansk and the only pertinent thing I found is
> here:
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2011/Bids/Haifa/Q%26A#Participants),
> but I would like to know if there are updates about the possibility for
> Middle East citizens to have permissions to enter Israel for Wikimania 2011.
> I guess this type of permission is not easy to obtain (I'm thinking for
> example about citizens of Syria, West Bank or Iran) and I also remember a
> discussion in Gdansk (with Jan Bart, just after the World Cup Final :-( )
> about some initiatives we could support to increase participation. Are there
> any news or updates? Could I find some information somewhere?
> Thank you in advance.

I spoke to quite a few people on the Israeli bid team and at the
Foundation about Wikimania 2011 while in Gdansk and I know trying to
get visas for as many people as possible, particularly from the
neighbouring Arabic countries, is very high up on everybody's
priorities. I don't know what is being done to achieve that, but the
issue certainly isn't being ignored.