<div dir="ltr">After Dr. Richard M. Stallman (RMS) cancelled his lecture at the University of Haifa I tried to arrange an alternative meeting hall for him. Like some other people I thought that all that was required was "not an Israeli university" or perhaps "not a prominent symbol of the state".<br>
<div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">
<br>Yesterday (9-Jun-11) RMS sent me a response which indicates that there is an even bigger problem. According to him, "the Palestinians' boycott is so strict that they object to [him giving lectures hosted by] all organizations except those that support the boycott."<br>
<br>My opinion is that under such circumstances RMS should refuse to speak, or at least have a "sudden and unavoidable scheduling conflict" which necessitates cancelling his visit.<br><br>If this really is the situation then I will not be searching for lecture halls for him and will not be attending his lectures either.<br>
<br>Tom<br><br>|------------------------------------------|<br>| Tom Balazs<br>| Haifa<br>| <a href="mailto:tom123online@gmail.com" target="_blank">tom123online@gmail.com</a><br>|------------------------------------------|<br>
<br>
From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Richard Stallman</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:rms@gnu.org" target="_blank">rms@gnu.org</a>></span><br>
Date: Thu, Jun 9, 2011 at 17:58<br>
Subject: Re: Fwd: A Lecture Hall for a Talk by Dr. Richard Stallman, President of the Free Software Foundation<br>To: Tom Balazs <<a href="mailto:tom123online@gmail.com" target="_blank">tom123online@gmail.com</a>><br>
Cc: <a href="mailto:rms-assist@gnu.org" target="_blank">rms-assist@gnu.org</a><br>
<br><br><div> Our theater is very busy during the month of June, and the date you had<br>
mentioned wouldwnt work.<br>
<br>
</div>My visit is in July, not June. Maybe that was misunderstanding.<br>
<br>
However, it seems that the Palestinians' boycott is so strict that<br>
they object to all organizations except those that support the boycott.<br>
I don't know whether they object if such an organization rents a hall.<br>
<div><br>
So I must charge the minimum cost of 750 N.I.S in order to be able to<br>
operate the Theater.<br>
<br>
</div>How many dollars is that?<br>
I have no idea whether I have this much in my pocket.<br>
<br>
--<br>
Dr Richard Stallman<br>
President, Free Software Foundation<br>
51 Franklin St<br>
Boston MA 02110<br>
USA<br>
<a href="http://www.fsf.org/" target="_blank">www.fsf.org</a>, <a href="http://www.gnu.org/" target="_blank">www.gnu.org</a><br>
Skype: No way! That's nonfree (freedom-denying) software.<br>
Use free telephony <a href="http://directory.fsf.org/category/tel/" target="_blank">http://directory.fsf.org/category/tel/</a><br><br></div>
<br></div><br></div>