[Wikimania-l] CD

[Harel Cain]

We at Wikimedia Israel are not ignoring the stories told on this thread,
actually we're taking them very much to heart.

We are now considering a strong letter of complaint to various government
agencies and a demand for formal written apology. Details will follow once
we have decided on our course of action.


Harel Cain
Secretary, Wikimedia Israel


On Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 11:07, James Hare <messedrocker at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Aug 11, 2011, at 9:49 AM, "church.of.emacs.ml" <
> church.of.emacs.ml at googlemail.com> wrote:
>
> > On 08/10/2011 06:05 PM, Sumana Harihareswara wrote:
> >>
> >> […]
> >>
> >> In both cases I was traveling alone.  And in both cases I was myself, a
> >> US citizen whose parents and name and skin color came from South Asia.
> >> I can't pass as anything else.
> >
> > This is simply racism and harassment. There can be no excuse for that
> > kind of treatment.
> > If this is the way even a citizen of the western world is treated, I can
> > understand very well why there were (almost?) no members of the Arab
> > world in Israel.
> >
> > I find it regrettable that next Wikimania is going to be in Washington
> > D.C. Airport harassment might not be as severe as in Israel, but perhaps
> > severe enough so that Arab Wikimedians are prevented or discouraged from
> > attending.
> >
> > Don't get me wrong, Wikimania in Israel was fantastic and D.C. will
> > probably be, too, but we have to focus more on accessibility for *all*
> > Wikimedians.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Tobias
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Wikimania-l mailing list
> > Wikimania-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
>
> While no one has the power to exempt anyone from security checks (in fact,
> whenever former Secretary of State Colin Powell travels, he gets the full
> check to show that everyone has to follow the rules), we can coordinate with
> TSA, tell them about our conference (including how tech-oriented some of the
> attendees are), and ask them for advice to make the security check process
> as simple as possible. My impression, though, is that while Israeli security
> focuses on you as a person, TSA mostly focuses on your stuff. Follow all
> their rules (take out laptop for separate x-ray scan, only small bottles of
> liquid, etc.) and I think you will be fine, but unfortunately I only have
> the perspective of a white US citizen.
>
> I actually think the bigger obstacle will be obtaining a visa, for those
> who don't live in visa exempt countries. As mentioned earlier, we will do
> everything in our power to make the process easier; we will even be looking
> into visa scholarships. It helps that the US State Department knows what
> Wikipedia is and that they have sent people to two Wikimanias, 2006 and
> 2011.
>
> James
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimania-l mailing list
> Wikimania-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
>



-- 
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.
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