I personally contacted people from the Palestinian community of Israel and spread the
word in the meetings I had with Palestinians from the West Bank. People showed some
interest, some of them were not too acquainted with Wikipedia and asked questions, but
apparently it didn't bring them to the registration page. Furthermore, I was
responsible to the translation of the whole site into Arabic, including the landing page
and registration page. This means that Wikimania in Haifa pops up in Arabic in Google or
any other search engines. I also translated the press release about the event and I know
it was sent to the major Arabic-language newspapers in the country.
That said, I am more than willing to contact any person in the West Bank in order to
promote Palestinian participation. Many Palestinians have permanent entry permits into
Israel, so they can reach Haifa easily, and there are many with Jerusalemite residency,
who also don't need any bureaucratic arrangements. In case some bureaucracy is
required, I do my best effort, as I have the necessary phone numbers at hand.
It is important to note that we encountered this year unprecedented attempts to discourage
people, particularly Arab people, from coming to the event. I don't blame anyone, and
I respect the freedom of speech of everybody, but it is very hard to promote an event
among Arabic-speaking people, when there are FaceBook groups and blogs, some of them
initiated by Wikipedians, calling upon Arab people not to attend, and even spreading false
information.
Dror K