Re: The tone of discussion on this list
>>>>> "Ian" == Ian Jackson <ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk> writes:
Ian> Alexander Wirt writes ("Re: The tone of discussion on this
Ian> list"):
>> I did not wanted to say its antisemetic, I wanted to say that we
>> don't want to see either antisemetic _or_ antiisrelism. In my
>> experience most discussions starting with antiisrealiasm will end
>> with being antisemetic.
Ian> I strongly disagree with the decision to ban "anti-israelism",
Ian> ie, criticism of Israel. The choice of Israel as a venue for
Ian> Debconf means that the question of the ethics or otherwise of
Ian> visiting Israel has been made on topic for this list.
I'd like to draw what I think is an important distinction:
Discussing the evaluation criteria for venue selection needs to be in
scope for our discussions.
Discussing specific venue selection decisions needs to be in scope for
our lists.
Discussing ethical problems that our participants have whith the
decisions of a particular government needs to be in scope to the extent
that it impacts venue selection.
Discussing feelings people have about venue choices or the criteria
needs to be in scope.
"I'm frustrated (or something much stronger) we are going to place X. I
don't feel safe there. I don't feel welcome because when I hear this
decision I don't feel that my safety is being valued; I don't feel that
Debian is welcoming to my race/culture/religion/whatever" are things we need to
be able to say.
The further it gets away from Debconf venue selection, the closer to
off-topic it gets for this list in my mind.
"I don't want us going to Israel because I think that by going there
we'd be supporting these practices" needs to be something we can say.
"Israel is bad" absent a clear connection to debconf venue selection is
off topic.
Yes, the connection might be obvious to you.
However actually taking the time to clearly link it back is something
that I believe makes messages easier to approach. So I'd ask you to
take that time.
And "Citizens of Israel are bad because ..." is something that I think
should be inappropriate in any Debian context.
I understand I'm not a listmaster, and this is an area where my only
power is to try and be reasonable and hope others agree with me.
I hope I've done that here and provided a balance that both the
listmasters and those who want to discuss Debconf 20 can live with.
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