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 <[email protected]> wrote: > On Aug 11, 2011, at 9:49 AM, "church.of.emacs.ml" < > [email protected]> 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 > > [email protected] > > 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 > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > -- Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.
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