In this article of the current week it's only between 50 and 60 heads of state<br>
<a href="http://www.tunishebdo.com.tn/article.php?rid=6&id=18579">http://www.tunishebdo.com.tn/article.php?rid=6&id=18579</a><br>
<br>
Marouen <br>
<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">2005/5/2, Meryem Marzouki <<a href="mailto:marzouki@ras.eu.org">marzouki@ras.eu.org</a>>:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Dear Francis,<br><br>Le dimanche, 1 mai 2005, à 17:48 Europe/Paris, Dr. Francis MUGUET a<br>écrit :<br><br>> Dear Meryem<br>><br>> There are many wild rumors floating around in Tunis as you know full<br>> well.
<br><br>This is exactly the reason why I commented and I asked for more<br>precisions. Disseminating the "news" that all Tunis and suburbs hotels<br>(an all in all capacity of about 19.000 beds, not rooms) are already
<br>booked and suggesting that it may occur that extra people would be<br>lodged in Hammamet (60 kms from Tunis, 70 from the WSIS place) may well<br>have been a "good idea" with a twofold objective:<br>(1) disseminating the rumor that thousands of people have already made
<br>their plans to attend, the message being "hurry up" for those who have<br>not yet done this. The expected result being to actually reach at least<br>part of the alleged current situation<br>(2) starting to have civil society accepting the idea to be lodged far
<br>from the WSIS site<br><br>This is the reason why I recommend that people like you, who are told<br>by whoever - not necessarily officials, some people may well be "plus<br>royaliste que le roi", as we say in French - this kind of rumor, should
<br>be a bit cautious before disseminating it in its turn as a factual<br>information (or understood as such: I'm by no mean saying that you did<br>that on purpose).<br><br>Regarding Sharon having been invited, the answer is "yes" to your 2
<br>questions:<br>- Yes, Sharon has been directly and personally invited by President Ben<br>Ali<br>- Yes, Israel being one of the United Nations States, its Prime<br>minister or any other representative of Israel may attend a UN Summit
<br>wherever it takes place, without any direct invitation by the host<br>country.<br><br>I don't want either to discuss this issue on this list, which is not<br>really the relevant place to do so. Those interested in my own opinion
<br>may read it (in French) at:<br><a href="http://www.alternatives-citoyennes.sgdg.org/num15/dossier-w.html">http://www.alternatives-citoyennes.sgdg.org/num15/dossier-w.html</a><br>What I mentioned in my message is that this invitation has caused
<br>important street demonstration in Tunisia and important repression as a<br>follow-up. And if Sharon himself - an important part of the problem, as<br>I see it, is Sharon himself, much more than an israeli representative,
<br>given his personal record as a killer (I should say a butcher) - indeed<br>attend the Tunis Summit (as the israeli press reported), then we should<br>be aware of that and of the consequences on the situation in Tunisia
<br>during the Summit, not only regarding security checks and blocking of<br>streets, but also regarding the final decision of Tunisian independent<br>civil society w.r.t. to boycott, and consequently the position of<br>international CS.
<br><br>Best,<br>Meryem<br>PS. And no, Monastir is not only a tourist place (like in other<br>Tunisian towns, people are studying and working there...)<br>PS2. I'm not sure I like your statement about the tourist industry and
<br>"what a big business opportunity that this WSIS is going to generate<br>!". After all, this has been exactly the same big opportunity for the<br>economy in Geneva for the 1st phase, as well as in any other big
<br>international event organized anywhere, be it a UN Summit or the world<br>olympic games: all countries are fighting for that (e.g. Paris for the<br>2012 Olympics). I think there is a need here to make a clear<br>distinction between Tunisian authorities very bad records on human
<br>rights (which indeed we should fight) and inappropriate - and somewhat<br>condescending - arguments like the one you made. Sorry to be so direct,<br>but sometimes it seems relevant to recall that Tunisia is not only its
<br>governement...<br><br>> The information that I got was no direct information and as such,<br>> all what I informally posted on some group lists is an information<br>> that must taken with a grain of salt.<br>
>> Hi all<br>>><br>>> I share Robert's cautiousness. I attended a Council of Europe meeting<br>>> on April 6-7, where Mr Geiger has been invited to provide the<br>>> audience with news about WSIS and the summit organization. Recalling
<br>>> that only 44 heads of States and heads of governments attented Geneva<br>>> Summit, Mr Geiger informed us that the Tunisian authorities were<br>>> expecting (at that time) the attendance of 50 to 60 heads of states
<br>>> and of governments, and were very much hoping a good representation<br>>> of northern countries.<br>>><br>> Interesting information.<br>><br>>> I see that the level of expectations has been raising (
i.e. has<br>>> tripled) between early April and mid-April, when Francis visited<br>>> Tunis and got this new information. This taking into account that<br>>> when the invitation of Ariel Sharon, Israel Prime minister, has been
<br>>> disclosed - which has led to many street demonstrations and<br>>> repression in Tunisia<br>><br>> The situation is quite tense when you speak with people in Tunisia<br>> about this issue.<br>> There is a question that you might clarify for us, since I am not
<br>> well versed in politics :<br>> Was Sharon invited by the Tunisian government at the occasion of the<br>> WSIS ?<br>> or<br>> Is Sharon planning to come as the head of the Israeli delegation, and<br>> Tunisia has nothing to say about it
<br>> since it is a UN summit ?<br>> I heard the two views in Tunisia, and I could not discern which one<br>> was correct ?<br>> Now, since I feel like walking over a minefield, lets be clear that<br>> I am not prepared to discuss on this list whether the fact that Sharon
<br>> would come is a<br>> politically, ethically a good/bad thing.<br>> I never alluded to Sharon visit in my post to the Finance group (the<br>> one forwarded by Rik)<br>> or other groups. Now, in relation to the logistics of the parallel
<br>> events, I agree<br>> that Sharon as well as Bush possible visits may create extra security<br>> checks<br>> ( in case of bombing threats ) and blockade ( in case of<br>> demonstrations )<br>> that would create some material problems
<br>> that we must prepared to cope with. This is not going to be a tourist<br>> trip.<br>><br>>> - the Tunisian authorities said that about 120 invitations have been<br>>> sent to heads of States/governments. This means that even non
<br>>> directly invited heads of states/governments are planning to attend.<br>>> Good achievement indeed.<br>><br>> May be this number of 120 jumped to 150, may be there is some<br>> exageration.<br>
><br>>> There are other detailed information in Francis message forwarded by<br>>> Rik (thanks for that, Rik, and BTW, Francis, was this visit<br>>> officially related to WSIS ?<br>><br>> No<br>
><br>>> I'm certainly not willing to ask private questions about your agenda:<br>><br>> This is the problem of forwarding a mail from one list to another.<br>> Rik left me<br>> no time to send this info ( as I intended ) to the plenary with more
<br>> cautious words<br>> and cross-checking. One may express oneself more spontaneously and more<br>> jokingly in Group lists than on the Plenary list, and<br>> I would appreciate in the future that this kind
<br>> of "scoop" reporting/forwarding shall not be reproduced, all the more<br>> adding<br>> some comments with the forward that should have been sent first on the<br>> list where<br>> it was originally posted.
<br>> Jean-Louis asked me the same question on the Finance list<br>> with his direct and humourous way.<br>> Let me forward my own anwer ( translated from French ) to the plenary :<br>> ---------------<br>>
<br>>>> Thanks Francis for this reporting ; I hope that the National Tourist<br>>>> Office of Tunisia paid for your trip ( friendly joke ).<br>>><br>> In fact, it is almost the case ! (Note for plenary: joke, of course
<br>> this was not the case )<br>> I went to Monastir within the framework<br>> of a scientific collaboration ( research on the structure of liquid<br>> water )<br>> the trip was paid by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
<br>> ( Note for Plenary : scientific cooperation, nothing to do with<br>> politics ) and my stay was paid by the Monastir Rectorate.<br>> Coming back from Monastir to Paris, I stopped in Tunis<br>> This is for the transparency of my financing, which in many cases,
<br>> is from my own pocket, as you know full well.<br>><br>> end of translated forwarding<br>> --------------<br>> Just for extra info, for those who might be under the impression that<br>> Monastir is only a place for tourists :
<br>> the site of "Faculté des Sciences de Monastir"<br>> <a href="http://www.fsm.rnu.tn">http://www.fsm.rnu.tn</a><br>> ( English visitors do not get a wrong impression, the site in English<br>> is rudimentary, only the site in French is complete and quite well
<br>> made, French is the official language of Science Higher learning in<br>> Tunisia )<br>> and for those who might be under the impression that everything is<br>> known<br>> about liquid water <a href="http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/index.html">
http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/index.html</a><br>> which is a major scientific enigma yet to be understood, and<br>> very strangely enough not much publicized.<br>> The visit to the Foire du Livre in Tunis was quite interesting,
<br>> roughly half of the books were in French, the other part in Arabic,<br>> and I bought there technical and science books there at lower price<br>> than in Paris. There was a booth about the WSIS and a WSIS-related
<br>> digital culture exhibition in the Foire (see my pictures<br>> <a href="http://www.wsis-pct.org/kram-apr05.html">http://www.wsis-pct.org/kram-apr05.html</a><br>> ) and I spoke rather extensively with the people on both booths
<br>> about the planned WSIS organization. I got the latest WSIS white<br>> T-shirt and a cap.<br>>> ), but just wanting to know if some WSIS CS people were invited there.<br>><br>><br>> No, but I took the opportunity to meet Tunisian people involved in the
<br>> WSIS process.<br>><br>>><br>>> This detailed information relates to the organization. I noticed that<br>>> almost all Tunis hotels are said to be already booked, that 18.000<br>>> participants have already registered (these people are really far
<br>>> sighted, specially since - correct me if I'm wrong, registration<br>>> forms for the summit are not yet available.<br>><br>> My understanding, but again it is more a guess than a certainty,<br>> is that this number is related to the members of the state delegations,
<br>> which are making their registration very early with other channel than<br>> the<br>> general public.<br>> Now the distinction between conference registration and Hotel<br>> reservations<br>> may have been blurred.
<br>><br>> Lets have a look at the statistics in Geneva, we had<br>> /<br>> Attendance/ Number of Participants Number of Entities Represented *<br>> States* 4590
176 *<br>> International Organizations* 225 50<br>> *UN Bodies* 620 37 *<br>> UN Agencies* 347 13<br>> *Non-Governmental Organizations* 3310 481 *<br>> Business* 514 98 *
<br>> Guests* 471 *<br>> Media* 970 631<br>> *TOTAL* 11047 1486<br>><br>> We can see that in Geneva the NGOs only comprise about 30% of<br>> the participants. We had about 7700 non-NGOs participants.
<br>> If those 18,000 participants are mostly related to delegations, then<br>> it means that would<br>> be more high profile govermental attendance in Geneva.<br>><br>>> They also are rich,<br>><br>> goverments are filthy rich ! and large official delegations filled
<br>> with non-essential bureaucrats are quite<br>> often customary in sunny spots on winter time !<br>> I would add that the Tunisia goverment is making a much stronger<br>> diplomatic campaign to have a very large
<br>> diplomatic attendance than the more distributed Swiss government did<br>> for Geneva. In Tunisia, the WSIS is the *big event* as it can be seen<br>> to any person coming at the Airport.<br>><br>>> if they made hotel reservation through the hotels proposed at
<br>>> <a href="http://www.smsitunis2005.tn">www.smsitunis2005.tn</a>) and I'm pleased to learn where the US<br>>> delegation will stay.<br>><br>> This, I cross-checked with other sources. The fact that the US
<br>> embassy booked the whole Hotel in front<br>> of its location does not mean necessarily that President Bush will<br>> come,<br>> only that a high ranking US official would come,<br>> certainly of a higher rank than the Science adviser that was
<br>> dispatched in Geneva.<br>><br>>> However, I see that this leads the organizers to envisage the<br>>> accomodation of other participants in Hammamet and to bus them daily.<br>>> Although Tunisia is not so large, and the distance between Tunis and
<br>>> Hammamet is only about 60km, I see this situation would really be a<br>>> problem for people lodging in Hammamet to fully be able to decide by<br>>> themselves of where and when they're willing to go.
<br>><br>> That's true, and this why I issued this warning for the parallel<br>> events organizers who must be on site,<br>> early in the morning, and stress the need of local organizers.<br>> Now, with the Tunisians, according to their long experience with
<br>> their Tourist industry<br>> ( what a big business opportunity that this WSIS is going to generate<br>> ! ),<br>> a good organization should be expected.<br>> I was told that participants are to be welcome directly at the Airport
<br>> (rather small, likely to be congested ? ) , badges, hotel bookings<br>> will be issued directly there.<br>><br>> Now, I guess there are, on this list, quite a significant number of<br>> CS people from Tunisia,
<br>> or that are coming back and forth to Tunis, and lileky to know a lot<br>> more that<br>> has been disclosed here. I would be good that those people would<br>> inform us from<br>> time to time of the evolution of the situation in Tunis in relationship
<br>> with the WSIS preparation.<br>><br>> Best regards<br>><br>> Francis<br>><br>>><br>>><br>>> Best,<br>>> Meryem<br>>><br>>> Le jeudi, 28 avr 2005, à 21:43 Europe/Paris, Robert Guerra a écrit :
<br>>><br>>>> I read in an earlier post - perhaps it was Francis - where it was<br>>>> stated that some 150 heads of state would be coming to the<br>>>> summit.......<br>>>><br>>>> hmmm.. i really doubt it. One must recal that during the first phase
<br>>>> an equal # (or higher) was also envisioned, but in the end - the<br>>>> reality was quite different.<br>>>><br>>>> I think it is way too premature to discuss which heads of state will
<br>>>> be coming. At least now. Let's wait for PC3<br>>>><br>>>> --<br>>>> ###<br>>>> Robert Guerra <<a href="mailto:rguerra@privaterra.org">rguerra@privaterra.org</a>><br>
>>> Privaterra - <<a href="http://www.privaterra.org">http://www.privaterra.org</a>><br>>>> _______________________________________________<br>>>> Plenary mailing list<br>>>> <a href="mailto:Plenary@wsis-cs.org">
Plenary@wsis-cs.org</a><br>>>> <a href="http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary">http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary</a><br>>>><br>>><br>>> _______________________________________________
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</a><br>>><br>>><br>><br>><br>> --<br>><br>> ------------------------------------------------------ Francis F.<br>> MUGUET Ph.D<br>> MDPI Foundation Open Access Journals<br>> Associate Publisher
<br>> <a href="http://www.mdpi.org">http://www.mdpi.org</a> <a href="http://www.mdpi.net">http://www.mdpi.net</a><br>> <a href="mailto:muguet@mdpi.org">muguet@mdpi.org</a> <a href="mailto:muguet@mdpi.net">muguet@mdpi.net
</a><br>><br>> ENSTA Paris, France<br>> KNIS lab. Director "Knowledge Networks & Information Society" (KNIS)<br>> <a href="mailto:muguet@ensta.fr">muguet@ensta.fr</a> <a href="http://www.ensta.fr/~muguet">
http://www.ensta.fr/~muguet</a><br>><br>> World Summit On the Information Society (WSIS)<br>> Civil Society Working Groups<br>> Scientific Information : <a href="http://www.wsis-si.org">http://www.wsis-si.org
</a> chair<br>> Patents & Copyrights : <a href="http://www.wsis-pct.org">http://www.wsis-pct.org</a> co-chair<br>> Financing Mechanismns : <a href="http://www.wsis-finance.org">http://www.wsis-finance.org</a>
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