[Foundation-l] FYI: Welcome to this years Wikimania site: Egypt, the land with cultur ministers with special taste in history, culture and all the good things

[Harel Cain]

Phoebe and others,

I'm not sure about the exact date when this travel advisory was
posted. The only sure thing is that it's in the aftermath of the
"tearing down" of the border between the Gaza strip and the Sinai
peninsula [in recent months], after which, supposedly, many terrorists
are now out and about in Sinai and possibly in the whole of Egypt.

As I'm not an expert and don't want to mess things up where I
shouldn't, here's a literal translation of the travel advisory. You
should understand that threats to Israelis do not necessarily mean
threats to Westerners. It is certainly NOT my goal to scare people
away from Wikimania 2008!!

<begin quote>
1. Of late, terror threats in the Sinai have increased substantially.
Terror activists in the Sinai are seeking to kidnap Israelis and
transfer them to the Gaza strip [to be held hostage - H.C.]. The open
border between the Gaza strip and the Sinai facilitates the movement
of terror activists to and from the Gaza strip.
2. For a long while now, there are substantial threats to the
wellbeing of Israeli travelers visiting Egypt. The level of threat: a
very high concrete threat.
The advisory of the Counter-Terror Staff [a department of Israel's
National Security Council]: to avoid all visits to Egypt whatsoever
and leave the country immediately.
<end quote>

> Thank you for the information. When was this latest warning posted?
> (sadly, my Hebrew is lacking). As you say, originally I thought there
> were plans for many people from Wikimedia Israel to come over, and of
> course that was one of the hopes for having it in Egypt -- that many
> people from the region could attend. It will be really sad if you are
> unable to :(


harel