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From: KIZU Naoko <aphaia@gmail.com>
To: Wikimania general list (open subscription) <wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 6:14 AM
Subject: Re: [Wikimania-l] CD

Please remind Westerner friends, not only Muslims and Jews but also
some parts of Christianity also observe Fasting either early- or
mid-August, which is as severely observed as Great Lent before Pascha
(Easter). East Christianity observes this summer fasting from August 1
to 15th, in honor of The Theotokos and her dormition, aka also Blessed
Virgin Mary. On the other hand, however I didn't remember no Greek, no
Serb, no Romanian or no Russian has complained the Wikimania
conferences have been held in this season.

<POV>
Personally it would be a challenge to decide how to observe the
fasting while one attends principally festive events, but then the
person he or she first counsel should their priests, neither the
organizing team or fellow Wikimedians. It's quite personal things
between the Lord and that person, even from friendly concern, with
help of the church who is Corpus Christi herself and guided by the
Holy Spirit, no other people can intervene.</POV>

I guess things might not be different upon our Jew or Muslim friends.
Some has come, others not, and if I recall correctly no one has
claimed the coincidental meeting of Ramadan and Wikimania. They have
their tongue and wisdom, if they felt it unease, they could speak on
their own behalf. I believe that our Muslim and Jew friends are not so
weak as they need someone else criticize without asking for.

Last but not least I'd thank the organizing team specially for their
kind treatment on Wednesday meals. Most of attendees might not have
noticed, they had changed the catering plan of that day in last
minutes, consequently which fulfilled Wednesday Fasting rule of
Eastern Orthodox completely, if meals are rightly selected. As a
person who was greatly helped by their attentive preparation to all
addressed need, they did all their best, I would like to say.

Cheers,

On Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 5:51 PM, Amir E. Aharoni
<amir.aharoni@mail.huji.ac.il> wrote:
> Having Wikimania during Ramadan doesn't prevent people from attending.
> Out of memory, i can recall at least seven Muslim people, at least two
> of them from Israel, who attended Wikimania 2011. There were probably
> more. They had special requirements related to Islam and Ramadan and
> we fulfilled them. (Also, the driver of the tour bus on the Nazareth
> tour was Muslim and didn't eat or drink. It didn't seem like a big
> deal.)
>
> That said, it is probably nice to try to plan Wikimania not to fall on
> the Ramadan, but it's far from being the biggest problem.
>
> There was at least one person from Iran (strangely enough i didn't
> meet him myself, but other people on the team did). There were
> practicing Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jews on Wikimania 2011, even
> though it fell on the [[The Three Weeks]]. At least two of them even
> attended some of the activities on Sabbath.
>
> All in all, it is mostly a matter of motivation. Despite our best
> efforts, there were very few unfortunate cases when people didn't get
> visas or permits for Wikimania 2011 (not only from Muslim countries).
> Nearly all the people who asked to attend, did.
>
> And please let me use this opportunity to personally salute the people
> who wanted to come and came in spite of the high cost, the political
> hurdles, the Israeli bureaucracy and their own country's bureaucracy.
> (The surprisingly weird bureaucracy of *commercial* travel agencies in
> some countries deserves its own parentheses.) This good kind of
> stubbornness is in our spirit.
>
>
> 2011/8/22 Gerard Meijssen <gerard.meijssen@gmail.com>:
>> Hoi,
>> Having Wikimania during Ramadan will prevent people from attending. The
>> dates for Wikimania next year are also likely during Ramadan.
>>
>> One way of looking at the absence of the Muslim world is that in Alexandria
>> there was a sizable group from Israel. In the end it is about taking the
>> opportunity. The opportunity for most was there with the exception from for
>> instance our Iranian friends who are expressly forbidden to come.
>> Thanks,
>>        Gerard
>>
>> 2011/8/21 WereSpielChequers <werespielchequers@gmail.com>
>>> . . . . . However I don't think
>>> this was really a completely Global Wikimania. As some of us feared it would
>>> be, this was a Wikimania that largely missed the Muslim world. I don't think
>>> that this is the fault of the organisers,  but clearly holding our annual
>>> conference in Israel during Ramadan was not the best way to encourage people
>>> from Islamic countries to attend. I hope that in future we can make sure
>>> that Wikimania is more inclusive than that.
>>> WSC