2011/6/28 Kim Bruning <kim(a)bruning.xs4all.nl>
Is there anyone who currently wants to come to
wikimania, but definitely won't be able
to come due to issues with permit/visa?
Indeed, Palestinians who live in the West Bank or in Gaza Strip have
to obtain a permit to enter Israel. This permit is not very different
from a Visa that participants from many other countries need to
obtain. We are providing a lot of assistance to a great number of
people who need Visas, permits, special travel and accommodation
arrangements, etc.
We cannot reveal the personal details of any attendee. What I can tell
is that until now there was only one serious Palestinian person who
asked to attend (not counting the registrations which are bogus beyond
any doubt). We sent that person all the needed information about
getting the permit and we are in contact with the relevant government
authorities about this matter. Unfortunately, we haven't heard from
that person since.
Except doing our best to help the Palestinians who actually register
to get the needed permits and to arrive, we also did our best to reach
out to potential Palestinian attendees: We sent dozens of emails to
Palestinian Wikipedians, software developers, activists of free
culture and education, etc., and until now we got practically no reply
from them, too, but we are still hopeful.
To sum things up: At this time we cannot, unfortunately, be sure that
Wikimania 2011 will be bustling with Palestinian Wikipedians, but we
also didn't get any complaints from someone who actually registered,
applied for a permit and was denied.
--
Amir Elisha Aharoni · אָמִיר אֱלִישָׁע אַהֲרוֹנִי
http://aharoni.wordpress.com
"We're living in pieces,
I want to live in peace." - T. Moore