Satoru's blog

Calling CF Community to Support Rescheduling ACPC
By Satoru, 6 months ago, In English

UPD: it's now rescheduled! thank you all for the support.

Hello Codeforces,

I didn't want to publish this blog during these circumstances, as it's the last thing to care about, but I'm publishing it hopefully ACPC organizers see it.

Last Saturday, we got an email saying that the ICPC world finals, which were supposed to be in 11 days in Sharm El-Sheikh, got rescheduled to a later time. And it was expected that the ACPC, which is supposed to be in 17 days in the same hotel, would get rescheduled too. but apparently the competition is still on its previously scheduled date!! I would like to note that ACPC is scheduled to be in the same hotel as ICPC.

Let's talk about it from many perspectives.

From the travel perspective, sadly while talking I will partition Palestine into the West Bank and Gaza, but we're one nation and stand together with each other. Firstly, two teams from Gaza are supposed to participate in ACPC this year, and surely, they will not be able to come if they even stay alive after 17 days, may they stay safe and meet them in the closest time. Secondly, there are more than seven Palestinian teams from the West Bank who qualified to ACPC and will not be able to travel because the travel will be unsafe, and I'm even assuming that Egypt will give us visas if we apply, which is unlikely. Thirdly, I don't know about Egyptians or the rest of the countries in ACPC whether their travel to Sharm El-Sheikh would be easy as it's inside Sinai or not.

From the mental side, I would like to note that I'm not coming to victim role play, but I don't think that there's a contestant will be ready mentally to participate in a competition right now, and have fun and dance there, and stay in a hotel, and enjoy their life, while some other contestants and other people in Gaza can't even find clean water to drink, and they don't even know whether they will stay alive to the next moment or not, and at any second an Israeli airstrike may fall on them, ending their dreams and ambitions. I can't imagine that the contestants will be competing in a contest, and after they finish and check their phones, they will find a new massacre committed by Israel happened in Gaza, Or stay in the closing ceremony waiting for results and checking their phones to see that the number of people killed in Gaza gets heavily increased. Or even swimming in the water sea during the excursion, while people in Gaza swim in a blood sea. Please don't think it's easy for me to write this. Of course, it's very hard and depressing for me as a Palestinian to write this about my friends, relatives, and fellow CPers who live in Gaza, but that's sadly the situation.

In the end, I'm wondering why I've to write this blog, even though delaying the competition is an obvious thing to do, and as ICPC which is international and a much bigger competition got delayed, ACPC could be delayed too. I know that the hotels got booked, and places and all of this costs money, but as ICPC got delayed in the same place and hotel, I believe that ACPC could be delayed too.

Lastly, I would like to say that if ACPC hasn't rescheduled, all Palestinian teams will have to boycott and not participate. I'm calling other ACPC teams to boycott too and comment here stating that they will boycott, maybe this will put more pressure on organizers to delay the ACPC.

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6 months ago, # |
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All support

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6 months ago, # |
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All support. It is fair for the Palestinian teams to participate, they also have ambitions and dreams. Always remember your brothers in Gaza.

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6 months ago, # |
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Spoiler
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    6 months ago, # ^ |
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    Bro you are in another level of evilness, People are dying and you don't waste time spreading ur Bullshit.

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    6 months ago, # ^ |
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    Bro, U just need to stop CP. Ur brain cells are dying!

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    6 months ago, # ^ |
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    And just like that... The Israel propagandists were back

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      6 months ago, # ^ |
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      I see none here

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        6 months ago, # ^ |
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        I see no Palestine propagandists either

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          6 months ago, # ^ |
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          Then you should check your eyesight

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            6 months ago, # ^ |
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            I went to the doctor. Everything is fine they said. I still see no Palestine propagandists.

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6 months ago, # |
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Although, most probably, I won't be able to come in both cases, I think ACPC should be rescheduled. Given it has the same organizers, the same hotel as the ICPC, and a smaller event, I don't think it would be hard to reschedule it. Also, Palestinian contestants deserve to be there and attend it.

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6 months ago, # |
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We know that you spent a lot of time training to participate in ACPC. We also know that participating in this competition is a dream that you have made real by working hard and putting in a lot of effort.

But stop for a second and think of people from Gaza; they also have their own dreams, futures, and careers. They worked hard, just like each one of you, to build their skills and chase their opportunities and dreams.

 

There was only one thing that airstrikes couldn't kill in Gaza: dreams.

Don't allow yourselves to kill their dreams.

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6 months ago, # |
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delaying the competition is an obvious thing to do

There is absolutely no "obvious" option. If they had opted for delaying it, then for how long should they wait? It is impossible to predict the future. Remember also that there is always a next year, so a longer delay (>= 6 months) would not really make any sense.

In a similar situation with the Ukraine war, SEERC (Southeastern Europe Regional Contest) has, from what I understand, been held online. In my opinion, going for a solution like this is much more sensible. For example keeping it onsite for people that are able to travel, and online for those who can't.

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    6 months ago, # ^ |
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    I dont think students in Gaza can attend the contest online...

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    6 months ago, # ^ |
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    Gaza right now is like Stalingrad during WW2 ,plus there is no electricity , no internet. I think rescheduling is a better solution because egypt is close to this zone and also Israeli army did "Mistakenly" attack some places in Egypt.So for the safesty of the participants resecheduling is a great thing.

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    6 months ago, # ^ |
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    This is the last participation for me and one of my teammates, and we were very close of reaching the ICPC last year, so we are relying on this last participation to reach it.

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    6 months ago, # ^ |
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    Adding to the students in Gaza who are in serious danger and don't have access to the internet, traveling between West Bank cities is quite dangerous (so teams can't gather in one place and compete with others outside the country).

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    6 months ago, # ^ |
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    internet is only available there for an hour a day and sometimes they go on without any this isn't a possible option

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    6 months ago, # ^ |
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    In my opinion, going for a solution like this is much more sensible.

    Oh, how could Palestinians and Gazans not have thought of that brilliant solution? Of course, they should look under the wreckage and debris of the wrecked buildings for a laptop or PC, and perhaps they could wait for some lightning to strike to get some electricity to run their PCs. Hmm, about the Internet, maybe they can...

    Also, yeah, why should they even care that their families are being killed when they can go to a competition full of excursions and entertainment and celebrate at the awards ceremony while their brothers and families are being murdered by terrorists. It is very sensible to do that.

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    6 months ago, # ^ |
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    ICPC had been postponed for two years, if i remember correctly, due to the coronavirus. I don't think the postponement is that difficult for ACPC too

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      6 months ago, # ^ |
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      Actually ACPC was never postponed because of Corona, it was only delayed for about 2 months, and eventually it happened without Palestinian and Jordanian teams, who couldn't travel.

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    6 months ago, # ^ |
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    Lol there's no wifi in Gaza how will they participate online

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6 months ago, # |
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I totally agree with you and the ACPC Organizers should consider this as one of their priorities.

I am also participating in the ACPC and I hope to see the Palestenians Teams There well and the other Palestenians in Palestine Well

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6 months ago, # |
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Support

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6 months ago, # |
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Hello, if everyone or a large number of participants send emails or announce the boycott, then the community will act and notice what is happening. Be human and stand with your brother and sister. spread widely. Thank you all.

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6 months ago, # |
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Firstly, two teams from Gaza are supposed to participate in ACPC this year, and surely, they will not be able to come if they even stay alive after 17 days

thats geniunely heartbreaking, I hope they stay safe

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6 months ago, # |
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I think boycotts wont work, i guess people would have already paid the huge amount of money. Rather if teams participating could write a mail to ACPC and ICPC with a heartfelt request, something could happen. Not sure but just feel very few will actually boycott.

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6 months ago, # |
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Reading your blog made me feel sad .. think that we are best friends and we want to make an onsite contest between us and for some reason one of us had a very bad accident and he could not participate ,tell me would the other attend to the contest in it's time like nothing has happened ???

I think we (I talk about Arabians) should respect your occasions cause we share the same blood ,religion,morals,language...etc we are more than friends ,we are brothers.

again, all respect to your blog and i hope the Acpc will be rescheduled

All The Best>>

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6 months ago, # |
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All support

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6 months ago, # |
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ACPC organizers doesn't care about Palestinian teams, its always an issue for Palestinians to get a VISA to Egypt, I mean I remember once the Palestinian teams participated online and they still paid the huge 1500$ registration fee.

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6 months ago, # |
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All support

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6 months ago, # |
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Best of luck!

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6 months ago, # |
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I'd like to highlight that not only is it a mental challenge for Palestinians to prepare for the contest, but it also deeply affects us, as Arabs, not only to be mentally ready for the contest but to have ordinary lives, enjoying basic necessities like water and food, while our brothers don't have these things and are being killed in Gaza. It's terrible that we are engaged in enjoyable activities while the blood of our brothers is so near to us.

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6 months ago, # |
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I agree with this blog, the situation in Gaza is very critical, even if it seems a secondary priority to ACPC organization, but we as Arabs cannot participate in a competition like this and we are missing Palestinian teams under these difficult circumstances that our brothers is living now.

I hope that ACPC organizers will look into this matter.

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6 months ago, # |
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All Support.

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Sending our prayers to all our siblings in Gaza, hoping the genocide and occupation come to an end soon Palestnian participants are a great part of the ACPC and we can't just hold the event without our siblings specially during the ongoing crisis which affects us all as arabs ACPC organisers should consider the rescheduling as a priority, Rescheduling the event won't be impossible as ICPC has already been postponed,

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6 months ago, # |
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All support

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6 months ago, # |
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We support you

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6 months ago, # |
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Our siblings in Palestine are subjected to genocide and ethnic cleansing. The occupation forces have been commiting war crimes against them including cutting water,electricity and communication We can't just go and hold the event and enjoy it while our siblings in Palestine don't have access to basic necessities, Hospitals are asking for help due to the power outage and the electric generators stopped working due to lack of fuel. Operations are performed by flashlights and without anesthesia(including Caesarean section and severe burns treatment) which is clearly a humanitarian catastrophe.The least we can do is postponing the event. Pray for Palestine

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All support

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All support

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All support

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All support

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6 months ago, # |
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All support !

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All support

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6 months ago, # |
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all support

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6 months ago, # |
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Rescheduling the ICPC and continuing the ACPC as is – what a contradiction!

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6 months ago, # |
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Delaying ACPC is a must.
ICPC got delayed because it is unsafe there for international students. How can it be safe for Arabic and African students? Do their lives have less value?
The ACPC organization is corrupted and all it cares about is money.

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6 months ago, # |
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All support. I hope all of you stay safe.

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ALL SUPPORT

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6 months ago, # |
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Deleted

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6 months ago, # |
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Since the competition is being held in Egypt, which is the closest country to Palestine and the people of Gaza, the least that can be done for them is to help with whatever capabilities we have, and this competition is one of the capabilities that we possess, so I hope that we will make them happy for a moment and that the competition will be postponed so that they can attend because They have the same right as the rest of the contestants. I hope we do not let them down in this matter as we have let them down in everything so far.

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6 months ago, # |
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Hello everyone, I am one of the members of the gazan teams that had qualified for the acpc, I wholeheartedly appreciate the support here in this thread. Although I’ve only gotten into cp recently it has been one of the most fun and exciting things i’ve ever experienced , I vivdly remember discussing with my friends in a cafe across our university just a month ago how the cp scene in gaza was still just blooming how it was getting popular and how someday we might be able to achieve something in it and compete at an international level (I remember even joking that we still yet had to compete at a national level since the gap between us and our brothers and sisters in the west bank is notable to say the least)… Although it has only been one month i reminisce about those days as if they were a distant past and if I’m being real they are… because all these memories and all those places would never be the same; if i may quote Al bowlly’s (heartaches is the song) i would say “it’s just a burning memory”, except quite literally…

A delay would sure be appreciated even though most probably the gazan teams wouldn’t be able to make it anyways as this conflict has no end in sight (I pray to God to prove me wrong) but it would sure be beneficial for teams in the west bank especially in terms of safety. As for boycotting I don’t think it is the right choice, there are many who have worked hard and prepared for God knows how long and to simply take that away (trust me as someone who has tried it on a much larger scale) would be wrong. Thanks a lot everyone

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    6 months ago, # ^ |
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    Greetings from Egypt to all the people of Gaza, my friend. You are heroes, may God save you all

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6 months ago, # |
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It's rescheduled now I guess.

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    6 months ago, # ^ |
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    Can you give more info pls?

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      6 months ago, # ^ |
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      Now it's officially rescheduled, nothing published yet but organizers told us about it.

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Deleted

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6 months ago, # |
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This reschedule thing is very wrong, ACPC organizers will now charge extra money to cover the rescheduling costs!

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