[Wikimania-l] CD

Fri Aug 12 08:14:28 UTC 2011

Thanks Itzik,

I doubt if any of us have concerns about measures taken to ensure security
on the planes. The concern is when things seem to move beyond this or when
this is done in an unpleasant manner..........

But my thanks for your sending that letter.

WereSpeilChequers

On 11 August 2011 12:03, Itzik Edri <itzik at infra.co.il> wrote:

> Hey,
>
> We reads every one of yours emails and twittets. I feel shame that things
> like that happen to part of the participates, but other things also need to
> say - it not happen to everyone, and this is the Israeli security process.
>
> We talked before, and also today with the airport - they know about
> Wikimania group, and they also to expedite this process.. The manger told
> us today that August is the most busy month on Ben Gurion - They doing as
> much as they can to make things more quickly for Wikimania participates (so
> again SHOW YOUR TAGS!), but they also have security guidelines, that they
> cannot', in any case, exceed them. The security of the other passengers is
> on their highest priority.
>
> The airport security has been asked again to make things easier for you,
> and the staff is doing as much as they can to help you - if their is
> specifies problematic cases, please report things to us and we will try to
> check that with them. They really listen to us and want to help us and you -
> but again, their is still orders and guidelines that they must to do. Don't
> know what they, and they of course can't tell us how things works and their
> individual decision (as only small part of the 450 participates from abroad
> has "suffer"..)
>
> Itzik
>
> On Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 11:50 AM, Harel Cain <harel.cain at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> We at Wikimedia Israel are not ignoring the stories told on this thread,
>> actually we're taking them very much to heart.
>>
>> We are now considering a strong letter of complaint to various government
>> agencies and a demand for formal written apology. Details will follow once
>> we have decided on our course of action.
>>
>>
>> Harel Cain
>> Secretary, Wikimedia Israel
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 11:07, James Hare <messedrocker at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On Aug 11, 2011, at 9:49 AM, "church.of.emacs.ml" <
>>> church.of.emacs.ml at googlemail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> > On 08/10/2011 06:05 PM, Sumana Harihareswara wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> […]
>>> >>
>>> >> In both cases I was traveling alone.  And in both cases I was myself,
>>> a
>>> >> US citizen whose parents and name and skin color came from South Asia.
>>> >> I can't pass as anything else.
>>> >
>>> > This is simply racism and harassment. There can be no excuse for that
>>> > kind of treatment.
>>> > If this is the way even a citizen of the western world is treated, I
>>> can
>>> > understand very well why there were (almost?) no members of the Arab
>>> > world in Israel.
>>> >
>>> > I find it regrettable that next Wikimania is going to be in Washington
>>> > D.C. Airport harassment might not be as severe as in Israel, but
>>> perhaps
>>> > severe enough so that Arab Wikimedians are prevented or discouraged
>>> from
>>> > attending.
>>> >
>>> > Don't get me wrong, Wikimania in Israel was fantastic and D.C. will
>>> > probably be, too, but we have to focus more on accessibility for *all*
>>> > Wikimedians.
>>> >
>>> > Regards,
>>> > Tobias
>>> >
>>> > _______________________________________________
>>> > Wikimania-l mailing list
>>> > Wikimania-l at lists.wikimedia.org
>>> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
>>>
>>> While no one has the power to exempt anyone from security checks (in
>>> fact, whenever former Secretary of State Colin Powell travels, he gets the
>>> full check to show that everyone has to follow the rules), we can coordinate
>>> with TSA, tell them about our conference (including how tech-oriented some
>>> of the attendees are), and ask them for advice to make the security check
>>> process as simple as possible. My impression, though, is that while Israeli
>>> security focuses on you as a person, TSA mostly focuses on your stuff.
>>> Follow all their rules (take out laptop for separate x-ray scan, only small
>>> bottles of liquid, etc.) and I think you will be fine, but unfortunately I
>>> only have the perspective of a white US citizen.
>>>
>>> I actually think the bigger obstacle will be obtaining a visa, for those
>>> who don't live in visa exempt countries. As mentioned earlier, we will do
>>> everything in our power to make the process easier; we will even be looking
>>> into visa scholarships. It helps that the US State Department knows what
>>> Wikipedia is and that they have sent people to two Wikimanias, 2006 and
>>> 2011.
>>>
>>> James
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Wikimania-l mailing list
>>> Wikimania-l at lists.wikimedia.org
>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Wikimania-l mailing list
>> Wikimania-l at lists.wikimedia.org
>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
>>
>>
>
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>
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