At 4:50 PM +0200 10/7/04, André Danthine wrote:
Today IEEE is surrending to the will of the US goverment to isolate the researchers of some contries. Today I am worry to see TC6 co-sponsoring events where researchers of some countries of the world are not allowed to submit papers and to participate.
Andre,
I agree with much of what you say in the rest of your note, but these two statements go a bit too far. The IEEE Board resolution opposing the OFAC restrictions is clear, and although you can say "well, they should just ignore the law" - and I might even agree with you on the principle - in fact, they cannot. That doesn't mean that they are "surrendering to the will of the US government."
As far as your "worry" is concerned, I suppose it is fortunate that TC6 did not have an active delegate from Israel when it met in Tozeur, and that no Israeli researcher decided to submit a paper to CCDC/Africom 98 in Tunis -
- Lyman
Dear Lyman,
The older members of TC6 are aware of what happens for the first Africom Meeting. At that time we had an active delegate from Israel, Jehuda Kella if my memory is good, and he insisted not to have the TC6 meeting at Africom in Tunis as he claimed that he will nor get the visa from Tunis. I told Farouk Kamoun that I intended to apply the IFIP rules ; no TC6 meeting at a place if all the delegates are not allowed to attend and I requested from Farouk a formal letter from the Minister of Foreign Affairs making clear that every TC6 delegates will be granted a visa. Believe it or not but I got this letter. I send it to Kella but unfortunatly he was not able to attend because the Israel Governement did not allow him to go to Tunisia. To complete the picture, at the time of the apartheid the South African Computer Society signed a document indicating that they were not applying the apartheid in the Society and were allowed to continue to participate in the IFIP activities. When we hold an event in SA, the black american participants stay in the same hotel as us. Koss Koen got a visa for India for a TC6 meeting and attended it. Later on, for a TC6 meeting in Budapest I was told from Tibor that there will be no visa problem. Unfortunatly, just before starting the TC6 meeting, we learned that Koss Koen was at the Budapest airport and not allowed to enter Hungary. I refused to open the meeting without Koss and I started with the help the delegate of of Austria to organise the transfer of the meeting to Vienna. Two hours later, the TC6 meeting started in Budapest with Koss Koen with us. It not because the "ennemies" of the US have changed that I will changed my attitude. IFIP is a true international society. IEEE is a transnational society and not an international society able to define its policy independently of the policy of the US governement. Freedom of though has a price that a lot of people and societies are not ready to pay.
Kindest regards
Andre