[Haifux] Cancelled Speech in Haifa, Israel

[Eyal Rozenberg]

An update on the RMS issue. I know it is not really my place to 
intervene here, as I'm a mostly-inactive member of Haifux, and I know 
many of you may be annoyed by what I'm about to say, but still, I would 
like to hear Stallman in Haifa and I'm trying to see if this can be made 
to happen somehow.

Dr. Stallman has indicated he will be able to attend an event in Haifa 
if it meets the boycott criteria. Literally, he said this:

On 01/06/2011 04:04, Richard Stallman wrote:
> Are you interested in helping to arrange a speech in a non-university
> venue in Haifa?

after writing:

On 01/06/2011 04:04, Richard Stallman wrote:
 > I am publicizing this response.
 >
 >
 > I don't advocate a blanket boycott of Israeli universities, but I am
 > not going to campaign against it either.  I see where they are coming
 > from: Israel's occupation policies are horrible.  Nonviolent protests
 > are crushed with persistent brutality.  (See
 > http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=221897.)
 >
 > Palestinians who are against violence are looking desperately for
 > some method of nonviolent resistance.  I can't blame them for it
 > even if I don't agree entirely with the details.  Thus, I don't
 > resent their insistence.

Anyway, it's not just the university venue, it's rather that RMS' 
Palestinian hosts are duty-bound to cancel his visit if it includes 
relations with boycottable Israeli institutions:

http://pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1421

Guideline 3. Yes, that includes ourselves (= Haifux), not just Haifa U 
or the Technion . However, a meeting organized by individuals, with no 
organization behind it, is Kosher: there is _no_ boycott of Israeli 
individuals. Call it a "Free Software enthusiasts' meeting with RMS" or 
something. So would be a meeting organized by an appropriately 
dissenting organization, which may also be worth looking into.

Now, I can't take it upon myself to organize this, but if some people 
are interested in making this happen, like I said, it is possible, and 
RMS is willing to speak in Haifa.

Eyal