On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 12:21 AM, Maysara Omar <
maysara.omar@gmail.com> wrote:
> Harel and Moushira,
>
> why the rush on closing this thread?!! :) Let us give time and space for a
> civilized and purposeful dialogue and deliberation to come to fruition and
> realization!
> --
> Maysara
> "All that is necessary to right action, is right judgment" _Rene Descartes
>
>
> On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 12:12 AM, Maysara Omar <
maysara.omar@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Yohai,
>> I thought it was pretty clear that this has nothing to do with me
>> personally. But just to emphasize, and not to yell or anything like this:
>> THIS DISCUSSION HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME PERSONALLY!
>> Most appreciatively,
>> --
>> Maysara
>> "All that is necessary to right action, is right judgment." _Rene
>> Descartes
>>
>>
>> 2010/8/12 Yohai Edery <
yohaied@gmail.com>
>>>
>>> Hello Maysara and all,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I feel like I have to send an e-mail again regarding what you wrote below
>>> as there is a lot of miss information in what you wrote.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Firstly, let's put things on the table, as an Egyptian you are not
>>> feeling good with coming to Israel as it would seem to your friends back
>>> home like you are trying to "normalize" relations with Israel. Although
>>> there are almost 30 years of peace between our countries, Egypt and
>>> Egyptians have been always against normalizing relation with Israel and in
>>> fact there is a lot of incitement towards Israel and Jews in general in
>>> Egyptian media, books, cultural events and so. Israeli cultural products
>>> (movies, music, theater and such) were band from participation in festival
>>> in Egypt even international ones held in Egypt. The situation with Jordan is
>>> not better…unfortunately. On the meantime, Israel has welcomed movies, music
>>> and artists from Egypt and Jordan that have participated in festivals and
>>> events in Israel.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I can guarantee that people from all over the world will have no problem
>>> coming to the event in Israel. Israeli authorities will allow everyone from
>>> everywhere to come to Wikimania providing he/she has not been engaged in
>>> terrorist activities…which I believe is not the case for the participants of
>>> our event….I doubt Al Qaida, Hammas and Hezbollah care about Wikipedia. I
>>> can tell you from past experience that people from Libya and Lebanon came to
>>> conferences in Israel without any trouble. The problem maybe with their own
>>> home government….but that, unfortunately, we can't control.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Again, accusation bout maltreatment and confiscation of belongings are
>>> NONSENCE I want to remind you that Israel is a full functioning democracy!!!
>>> We DO NOT do things against the law and will not confiscate anything from
>>> anyone unless there is a solid reason. Again, I have been involved with tens
>>> of conferences in Israel and had many friends from all over the world coming
>>> to Israel, none of them suffered from any of those things you maintained. I
>>> would like to kindly ask you to stop with those accusations.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Regarding arriving to Israel from Cairo, again, you don’t have to do that
>>> by bus or car only like you said….you can easily fly to Ben gurion
>>> international airport in Tel Aviv on a non-stop flight from Cairo with El-Al
>>> Israeli airline or Air Sinai (part of Air Egypt). If you need help with
>>> making the reservations, I would love to help….
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I think that change comes from people and not for the leaders….I would
>>> expect you to see this event as a great opportunity to start real dialogue
>>> between people in the Mideast and use such an important source of
>>> information like Wikipedia to a good use as a tool to bring people together,
>>> break stigmas and fight prejudice. The only way we can live together in
>>> peace is if we will get to know each other….I have visited Egypt and Jordan
>>> as well as the Palestinian territories…I know a lot about the Arab
>>> world…what do you know about me?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hopping to show you all the real face of Israel when you are hear...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Good night from Haifa, Israel
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Yohai Edery
>>>
>>> יוחאי אדרי
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> E-mail:
yohaied@gmail.com
>>> P Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> From:
wikimania-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org
>>> [mailto:
wikimania-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Maysara Omar
>>> Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 5:46 AM
>>>
>>> To: Wikimania general list (open subscription)
>>> Subject: Re: [Wikimania-l] Problematic aspects of hosting the next
>>> conference in Haifa, Israel
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hello to All :)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 1) Of course i am aware that the decision has already been made. I would
>>> not have brought this issue had i not thought, (along with many others by
>>> the way who are unfortunately not here to express themselves about this)
>>> that whatever jury took that decision has fallen into a manifest error, that
>>> justifies a look back and reconsideration, rather than be ignored, and
>>> regardless of whether this will change things or not. The issue needs to be
>>> addressed, because it is very important. It is a fact, that participants
>>> from Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and possibly other countries, will
>>> never have the chance to attend the next wikimania conference should it be
>>> held in Israel. Further, other participants from other countries,
>>> particularly "Arab" countries whose citizens do not usually go to Israel for
>>> any purpose, and this applies to both Jordan and Egypt with whom Israel is
>>> in diplomatically fine terms, will find many troubles from both the Israeli
>>> and their own governments. This is no speculation, there are hundreds of
>>> accounts on the internet of maltreatment and confiscation of belongings of
>>> passengers for all sorts of reasons by Israeli officials at entry/exit
>>> points. Questions asked in such aggressive tonality and attitude regarding
>>> the passengers' views and opinion of Israel and the conflict in the middle
>>> east. Please ask the ministry of foreign affairs, whether they will let some
>>> attendees in, if they answered these questions as they do believe rather
>>> than fake a friendly answer!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 2) If even presidential elections can be repeated because their results
>>> were doubtful, i cannot see why everyone here so far is talking about the
>>> "impossibility" of reconsidering the validity of the decision made by the
>>> jury, as though it is a sanctified or infallible one! Somehow it seems that
>>> so far no one apart from myself, who could get into Israel only following a
>>> car or bus ride of 8 hours from my very home in Cairo, took the time to
>>> think of the position of those who will never be permitted into Israel, or
>>> who will avoid doing so because Israel is in fact a problematic destination
>>> for them. And regardless of whether any of this is fair or not, we currently
>>> do have a realistic situation that is laden with injustice and great
>>> potential of practical disorder, which somehow was not raised during the
>>> decision making process, although it is no secret or news! This suggests
>>> that non of those who will be negatively effected by the decision, were
>>> present when the process of deciding was ongoing. One of the benefits of
>>> this discussion then, is perhaps to give more attention to such matters as
>>> representativeness, inclusive deliberation, and outreach, in further such
>>> processes of wikimania biding and decision making. Perhaps from now on, we
>>> should make more effort in reaching out for, you know, "all the people on
>>> Earth" who might want to come to wikimania with their experiences, etc.
>>> Unfortunately I was not there then, and maybe i won't be able to be there
>>> later, but I do not believe that it is too late to bring this issue now, and
>>> to attempt to correct what is wrong even by those who, understandably, love
>>> their own country and would have loved to see it hosting such a wonderful
>>> event. It is for a clean, freeing, progressive, and Humanistic experience
>>> and social process that we commit ourselves; the passing-by moments in this
>>> experience will be destructive if they are absorbed only in the passing-by
>>> moment!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Finally, Wikimania conferences must be accessible to everyone, without
>>> having to speak of making "exceptions" and taking extra measures to smoothen
>>> the passage of those who participate together everyday in creating and
>>> making the new free knowledge and culture of our age and the future. This is
>>> the position that I have chosen for myself, rather than the one that you ask
>>> me to adopt, that is, to suggest solutions to numberless problems and to an
>>> erroneous and unfair condition and situation. And now I ask you, what is
>>> YOUR position?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> :)
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> Maysara
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org
>>>
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
>>>
>>
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