[Foundation-l] Concern for the safety of Wikimedians at Wikimania in Alexandria.

[Gerard Meijssen]

Hoi,
In the end it is about freedom. The freedom that is available to you
is limited by the freedom available to others. When you insist on behaving
in a manner that is offensive to others your safety can not be
guaranteed. The rights and the treatment that you take for granted in your
normal environment is not necessarily what will be available in other
environments. This is rather elementary I would say.

When this is not understood, it is better and safer to stay at home because
it is difficult enough to appreciate the differences that may get you in
trouble in unfamiliair places. When it is then argued that we should not go
to countries where these "issues" do not exist, it means that we cannot have
a Wikimania as any country is sufficiently different to get you into
trouble.

The Wikimedia Foundation aims to bring the sum of all knowledge to every
single human being. One of the way we promote this idea is by having
Wikimania. It is in my opinion a great opportunity to meet in Alexandria
after meeting in Frankfurt am Main, Boston and Taipei. Like in these places,
the people that do come to Alexandria and stay at the venue will be in a
Wiki bubble and not see much of Egypt.

I do agree with Samuel that it is wise to plan for contingencies and also
that this planning is typically done quietly. I am convinced that the
organisers of the Alexandria Wikimania are doing exactly this as well. The
problem with true security and a sense of security is that they are
completely different things. When you read Bruce Scheier on this subject,
you will learn that many security measures are just to make people feel good
while they are just theater.

When people feel insecure, much of this is the result of being out of place.
When people suggest that the experience of my sister is irrelevant, I do
argue that my sense of unease in the USA in contrast to her experience makes
it relevant because it demonstrates how what makes people feel safe and
secure gives the exact opposite reaction to others.

Where David Gerard suggests that I want to shut up some, I am sad that he
interprets my contribution in this way. For me Wikimania is relevant. I have
had the priviledge to be at all the Wikimanias. Wikimania is first and
foremost for the people who take the trouble to come and the arguments
should be about how will we make Alexandria 2008 a success.
Thanks,
     GerardM
On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 9:25 PM, Dan Rosenthal <swatjester at gmail.com> wrote:

> I think right now, he's being more moderate than the actual
> moderators, in that he's trying to steer us into new discussion rather
> than repetition of the same thing, in order to continue the discussion
> of this important topic. GerardM's sister's experience is irrelevant
> to this discussion, which was never about the safety of people who
> submit to coercive standards on appearance and behavior based on a
> religion they may not support. This discussion is about people who do
> not wish to be coerced into such behavior and appearance, and their
> safety, rights, and protections.
>
> -Dan
>  On Mar 3, 2008, at 3:16 PM, Jussi-Ville Heiskanen wrote:
>
> > On 3/3/08, David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> On 03/03/2008, Gerard Meijssen <gerard.meijssen at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>> You may have your opinion but imho you are wrong. My sister has
> >>> been now
> >>
> >>
> >> Yes, I think that's the "shut up and stop complaining" POV accounted
> >> for. Anyone else have anything useful to add?
> >>
> >>
> >
> > Seriously, I think you are on the right side of the issue, but
> > the way you phrase your discussion, does you no favors...
> >
> > Really, David Gerard, if you can't be more balanced, do not
> > be a moderator...
> >
> >
> > Jussi-Ville Heiskanen, ~ [[User:Cimon Avaro]]
> >
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