Hello Lodewijk. As we have said in our letters, what should happen as a solution is that this process *should be halted and a new one begun*, as this one is clearly marred by irreversible situations, improvised decisions, and exclusions that are gradually becoming clear. Hopefully, the Board will have the sensitivity and humility to be able to get back on track.
El vie, 10 oct 2025 a las 3:15, effe iets anders (<[email protected]>) escribió: > Aside from all process concerns I have: If we want our leadership to be > part of public conversations - heck, if we want *potential* future leaders > to be part of critical debate inside and outside of Wikimedia, it is a very > dangerous precedent to set that candidates are removed from consideration > for posts in the past. This is a dangerous risk in regular politics as well > as Wikimedia. > > I don't know yet what the right solution would be. If these candidates > would pose insurmountable legal risks (I haven't seen the full information > available to the board, and I'm sure it was accompanied by a legal analysis > of sorts) - we could push back as a community. However, I also realize that > the board has a tremendous responsibility. Their duty is to ensure the > continued existence of the Wikimedia Foundation forever. And I don't envy > their responsibility right now, given the developing political, legal (and > financial!) landscape in the United States. > > I really appreciate Clovermoss' broader approach to think about solutions. > I'm not convinced that the right approach is to push through candidates. > I'm really sad for both R. and L.*, who have amazing qualities both, who I > admire as a Wikimedian and colleague. Let us acknowledge at least briefly > that this must be at the least a bit of a personal drama for them - they > did not deserve this. At this time, I'm also not convinced the WMF is doing > the right thing to move forward with the election - but honestly, I haven't > heard many great alternatives either. > > What I do think we really have to ask ourselves in the coming year, is > whether our current structure with a WMF board that has both the legal > responsibility for everything, and in some way is the only strategy-setting > body that we have as a movement, is perhaps placing a bit too much > responsibility to place on a single body. I recall that one of the main > outcomes of the movement charter process was to address this - and while > the specifics of that solution were maybe not perfect, this drama does > reinforce to me that the principal idea of moving away to a more balanced > system may be more important than ever. > > Lodewijk > > *(just abbreviating their names here because I don't like that our > discussions on this will be the results of search queries for eternity) > > On Thu, Oct 9, 2025 at 5:06 PM Hannah Clover < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Oops, I said that already. Sorry, carry on 😅. >> >> On Thu, Oct 9, 2025, 10:58 a.m. Hannah Clover < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> I also wanted to say that I welcome other people's voices on the >>> discussion page on my reform petition. My story is just one of many and our >>> collective voices matter. >>> >>> On Thu, Oct 9, 2025, 10:44 a.m. Owen Blacker <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> Hi Victoria, >>>> >>>> Thank you for at least presenting your personal perspective on the >>>> disqualification of these 2 candidates. >>>> >>>> I have to say, though, this seems to me like the least charitable >>>> possible view anyone could have taken from both candidates' statements. >>>> >>>> I'm sure this is not what you intended, but what I read from your >>>> message is that: >>>> >>>> 1️⃣ A bad-faith smear campaign from Israel will be enough to rule out >>>> any candidate who posts pro-Palestine, anti-Zionist messages, and >>>> disenfranchise voters who would support a candidate who opposes Israel's >>>> genocide of the Palestinians. >>>> >>>> 2️⃣ A single Board member having expressed anti-Israel comments on >>>> social media is more likely to bring the WMF into disrepute than rumours of >>>> the Foundation being careful to appease the ADL, a propagandist >>>> organisation that disseminates disinformation, that conflates any criticism >>>> of Israel with antisemitism and that denies that a genocide is currently >>>> occurring in territories under Israeli control. >>>> >>>> 3️⃣ A candidate who is looking to increase transparency and help the >>>> community better understand the work of the Board is immediately assumed to >>>> be incapable of recognising a need for privacy around any of those areas — >>>> even despite that candidate already being trusted by 2 different Affiliates >>>> with equivalently sensitive Board-level information. >>>> >>>> If the vetting process is immediately assuming pro-Palestinian >>>> viewpoints and pro-transparency viewpoints to be incompatible with Board >>>> membership, then the vetting process is not fit for purpose. >>>> >>>> I am finding it increasingly difficult to trust the judgement of a >>>> Board who thinks these 2 candidates are so dangerous that they cannot be >>>> voted on or trusted to be onboarded appropriately. This is exacerbated when >>>> the most recent other activities I have seen from the Board are replacing a >>>> queer woman of colour from a non Free nation-state of the Global South with >>>> a white financier from New York City (who I am sure is very competent) and >>>> publishing a policy that seems solely designed to stop the Arabic-language >>>> Wikipedia from displaying a flag on its logo because it makes some people >>>> who are currently supporting a genocide feel uncomfortable. >>>> >>>> The Board seems to think the extremist viewpoints of the news media of >>>> a country that is being condemned by a substantial proportion of the planet >>>> are more important to its reputation than representing the wider community >>>> and its diversity. Given that the Foundation is hosted and staffed >>>> predominantly from a country that is currently falling to anti-democratic >>>> extremism, it is hard to have trust and hope that the Foundation is willing >>>> and able to fight for knowledge and diversity in the face of rising hate >>>> and disinformation. >>>> >>>> (To be clear, I too am writing as an individual, not as a >>>> representative of any organisation I am a part of.) >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Owen Blacker, Cardiff GB, he/him >>>> User:OwenBlacker >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], >>>> guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines >>>> and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >>>> Public archives at >>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/RXF3WVGJDYYQCNILC2EREKXSXTSBXN2V/ >>>> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines >> at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >> Public archives at >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/EXMAARA3DDT5PIFED3MMPFKJVY2HDPDS/ >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines > at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > Public archives at > https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/47GLBZHNSBM2KVLWI6FFA7V7JMKIA3M5/ > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] -- *Iván Martínez* *Voluntario - Wikimedia México A.C.User:ProtoplasmaKid * // Mis comunicaciones respecto a Wikipedia/Wikimedia pueden tener una moratoria en su atención debido a que es un voluntariado. // Ayuda a proteger a Wikipedia, dona ahora: https://donate.wikimedia.org
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