Abbas: Let us not generalize; it is a complex and complicated matter about the will/ability to visit Israel if you happen to be a resident of an Arab or Muslim nation.
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. Maybe it remains a personal choice of the participant whether to make it Haifa or not. M On 8/11/10, Abbas Mahmoud <abbas...@hotmail.com> wrote: > Not only the Middle East, but the Muslim population at large will not dare > step into Israeli soil. > >> Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:06:45 +0100 >> From: thomas.dal...@gmail.com >> To: foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Partecipation in Wikimania 2011 >> >> On 11 August 2010 12:37, Andrea Zanni <zanni.andre...@gmail.com> wrote: >> > DISCLAIMER: this is a delicate issue that could easily generate a flame. >> > So >> > please everybody presume the good faith and stay on topic :-) >> > >> > >> > I don't really know if this issue as been discussed in earlier threads >> > (I >> > subscribed to this list after Gdansk and the only pertinent thing I >> > found is >> > here: >> > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2011/Bids/Haifa/Q%26A#Participants), >> > but I would like to know if there are updates about the possibility for >> > Middle East citizens to have permissions to enter Israel for Wikimania >> > 2011. >> > I guess this type of permission is not easy to obtain (I'm thinking for >> > example about citizens of Syria, West Bank or Iran) and I also remember >> > a >> > discussion in Gdansk (with Jan Bart, just after the World Cup Final :-( >> > ) >> > about some initiatives we could support to increase participation. Are >> > there >> > any news or updates? Could I find some information somewhere? >> > Thank you in advance. >> >> I spoke to quite a few people on the Israeli bid team and at the >> Foundation about Wikimania 2011 while in Gdansk and I know trying to >> get visas for as many people as possible, particularly from the >> neighbouring Arabic countries, is very high up on everybody's >> priorities. I don't know what is being done to achieve that, but the >> issue certainly isn't being ignored. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> foundation-l mailing list >> foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > > _______________________________________________ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
