[Foundation-l] Wikimania and the Muhammad pix

[daniwo59 at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/23/2008 10:03:14 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
Anthere9 at yahoo.com writes:

Nod.  I'll add that to the board+Sue discussion next week end, and see 
that this  be addressed.




The truth is, I do not think anything will happen in Alexandria,  though much 
depends on the controversy du jour, and the risks that the  foundation is 
willing to take. I think the issue is more complex. 
 
A few years ago, I worked on a film called Watermarks about an Austrian  
women's swim team in the 1930s. The top swimmer refused to participate in  the 
1936 Olympics because she did not want to show support for the German  regime. 
She was, in response, stripped of her awards and removed from the record  books 
(but had them restored a few years ago, shortly before she died).  Rather, the 
question is whether the WMF is prepared to show implicit support for  a 
regime that discriminates against homosexuals, members of religious  minorities, 
bloggers, women, and political adversaries. For a movement motivated  by "Free 
as in Freedom," it seems to be an ironic choice.
 
By the way, the same concerns were expressed two years ago by participants  
at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia. I was there with a  
sizable group of Wikimedia people. And while the ubiquitous pictures  of 
President Ben Ali were just creepy (the white suit didn't help much), it  bothered 
me to see soldiers and policemen posted every couple of hundred  meters along 
60 kilometers of highway, or to see locals stopped in their cars  for spot 
checks at the major intersections. Safety, no matter how efficient,  comes at a 
price. 
 
Just some thoughts,
 
Danny
 
 



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