[Foundation-l] Partecipation in Wikimania 2011

[Yaroslav M. Blanter]

> I believe the "difficulty" of getting a visa varies from one country
> to another, but even with the help of the bidding team, an issue will
> remain unresolved, that is: Some countries do not allow persons with
> an Israeli stamp on their passports, to enter their borders. The list
> includes: Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, UAE, Turkey ..and other
> destinations. I am not sure if there are exceptions for this rule in
> those countries. It is a complicated situation on political and
> ethical levels.

Turkey is no problem, Turkish citizens can, may and do visit Israel. Also,
Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Tunesia, and Mauretania are no problem. Algeria I
would need to check.

The list of countries which would never let a visitor in with the Israeli
stamp (or Jordan or Egypt stamp in correponding checkpoints) is (I believe
this is a full list but one needs to check the lates updates; not sure
about Irak for instance):
Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Yemen,
Qatar, Sudan, Lybia. Citizens of these countries who openly visit Israel
break the laws of these countries and can face prosecution.

There are other countries which would let a foreigner with an Israeli
stamp in but not let their citizens to visit Israel. This list needs to be
compiled from the database but I believe it includes at least Malaysia and
Indonesia. 

Cheers
Yaroslav