[Foundation-l] Partecipation in Wikimania 2011

Wed Aug 11 15:15:34 UTC 2010

Israel is well aware of this situation, and offers the special
possibility of stamping not the passport but a separate page on entry
and exit, for any visitor that requests it (Westerners who work/travel
to countries like Iran will not want an Israeli stamp on their
passport).

As to visiting Israel being socially unacceptable in some societies,
or a good reason for being harassed by one's own government, this is a
very regrettable fact of Middle East politics, but totally not within
the organizing team's sphere of influence. The only thing we can do
about it is hand out "Don't photograph me" labels or anonymous name
tags to participants who want them, much like happened in WM2007 in
Taipei (for some visitors from the PR of China).

Harel Cain
Wikimania 2011 team

> Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:26:09 +0300
> From: moushirah at gmail.com
> To: foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Partecipation in Wikimania 2011
>
> Abbas: Let us not generalize; it is a complex and complicated matter
> about the will/ability to visit Israel if you happen to be a resident
> of an Arab or Muslim nation.
>
> I believe the "difficulty" of getting a visa varies from one country
> to another, but even with the help of the bidding team, an issue will
> remain unresolved, that is: Some countries do not allow persons with
> an Israeli stamp on their passports, to enter their borders. The list
> includes: Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, UAE, Turkey ..and other
> destinations. I am not sure if there are exceptions for this rule in
> those countries. It is a complicated situation on political and
> ethical levels.
> Maybe it remains a personal choice of the participant whether to make
> it Haifa or not.
>
> M

--
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.