Palestine Today

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Re-framing the Narrative for Palestinian Rights and Justice

Nadia Hijab, Executive Director of Al-Shabaka, with Zena Agha and Yara Hawari, Policy Fellows of Al Shabaka

 

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Summer Camp for the New Hitler Youth

 

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Reframing the Narrative for Islamic Terrorist Rights.

 

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Gaza: Coding in a conflict zone

But that does not stop some young people from dreaming that they can turn this strip into the Arab world's Silicon Valley, or at least an outsourcing hub. Arabic is one of the fastest growing languages on the internet.

Shams Abu Hassanein did workshops on freelancing at Gaza Sky Geeks and now makes a living from infographics. She designs flyers, brochures and social media posts in English and Arabic.

Gaza: Coding in a conflict zone

 

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Israeli Anti-Zionist activists and Palestinians meet face-to-face at Gaza fence

 

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How an unlikely alliance of Jewish settlers and Palestinian activists are trying to bring peace to Israel

Ali Abu Awwad, a tall Palestinian with thick curly hair, who once spent four years in an Israeli prison, talks intensely with Shaul Judelman— a Seattle-born Orthodox Jew who now lives in a nearby settlement. Along with Hanan Schlesinger, an Orthodox rabbi from another neighbouring Jewish settlement, Abu Awwad and Judelman are the co-directors of Roots, an organization dedicated to teaching nonviolence. The friendship of these natural-born enemies— in one of Israel's deadliest conflict zones— challenges the usual assumptions about Palestinian-Israeli relations.

"Don't be pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli," Abu Awwad says. "Be pro-solution."

 

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Israel responds to Islamic terrorist attacks.

 

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"The Untold Truths of Gaza" With Linda Sarsour Hosted by Mysonne

 

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"My Voice Sought the Wind" with Author Susan Abulhawa

 

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Palestinian High-tech Workers Plugging Shortage of Israeli Tech Staff

'For the price of one Israeli engineer, an [Israeli] company can hire three Palestinians in the West Bank, and they have very high motivation'or the price of one Israeli engineer, an [Israeli] company can hire three Palestinians in the West Bank, and they have very high motivation'

Dudu Slama, an executive at Mellanox Technologies, told last week’s Startup Neighbor’s conference in Tel Aviv sponsored by TheMarker that collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli high-tech engineers is one of the keys to successful cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians more generally.

Prior to the conference, however, Palestinians opposed to normalization of ties with Israel lobbied through social media to persuade Palestinians not to attend the conference. Palestinians who did attend said their primary interest was looking after the well-being of hundreds of workers in the high-tech sector in the Palestinian Authority who earn a living working for Israeli tech firms.

At a time when Israeli high-tech companies are outsourcing their work to countries such as Ukraine and India, the Palestinian Authority, where about 3,000 students a year graduate from computer science and engineering programs, provides a workforce that can be hired for less than is generally paid in Israel. There are several Palestinian manpower firms operating in Palestinian West Bank cities such as Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron and the new planned community of Rawabi that provide high-tech placement services.

“For the price of one Israeli engineer, an [Israeli] company can hire three Palestinians in the West Bank, and they have very high motivation,” Slama said. Mellanox itself, which is based in Yokne’am, southeast of Haifa, employs more than 100 Palestinians, including 20 engineers who work in the Gaza Strip. The other 80 employees are based in Rawabi.



Palestinian high-tech workers plugging shortage of Israeli tech staff

 

[Coyote]

Had no idea about the high tech sector developing in Gaza...interesting stuff, flacaltenn isn’t this some of what you were talking about? This is from 2015. Some how this Jory of news just gets ignored.

Https://www.voanews.com/a/ap-in-war-torn-gaza-tiny-high-tech-sector-emerges/3093096.html

In War-torn Gaza, Tiny High-tech Sector Emerges

As a student graduating from computer college two years ago, Mohammed Qudih was dreading the “painful” unemployment in the Gaza Strip - a war-battered territory where nearly half the population is without work.

Today, the 25-year-old engineer boasts about his company, its 20 full-time staff and the final check he is issuing to cover the $40,000 spent on designing and furnishing the office.

The firm, called Haweya for Information Technology, specializes in branding for new or restructuring businesses. Its name in Arabic means “identity.”

“I was shocked by the painful work situation in Gaza; there were no jobs and getting a job is very, very difficult. That's where the idea came from,” Qudih said, sitting behind a white laptop on his dark wooden desk.

It is a rare success story in Gaza, whose economy has been battered by an Israeli and Egyptian blockade and a 50-day war between Israel and the territory's Hamas rulers last year. Israel considers Hamas, an Islamic militant group committed to its destruction, to be a terrorist organization.

 

[Coyote]

This is one of the start ups..Sky Geeks, who’s founder had left Gaza and felt he had to return, a video of was posted by T earlier I believe.


He Found A Way Out Of Gaza. Then, Something Drew Him Back.

Altaharwi is the manager of the pre-seed startup accelerator at Gaza Sky Geeks, the improbable Mercy Corps.-funded tech accelerator that operates inside blockaded Gaza. He is a rarity. Altaharwi not only managed to leave Gaza, eventually earning an MBA in Germany, but he gave up the chance to work at McKinsey, Bain or Accenture -- Big Three firms he was in discussions with -- to come back.

“He could have gone to (one of them) but decided to come back to Gaza to work with us. I still can’t believe it,” says Ryan Sturgill, Gaza Sky Geeks director.

I checked in on the Geeks during these past weeks of terrible violence. When you see the numbers – more than 115 Palestinians killed and 13,000 wounded -- it’s hard to imagine life going on normally there. The U.N. has said it will be unlivable by 2020. But more than 1.8 million people live in Gaza, and despite the electricity shortages and the collapsing infrastructure, in some places some people manage to maintain hope against the odds.

Gaza Sky Geeks is one of those places.

Amazingly, it has more than doubled in size since I visited in 2016. In addition to admitting a larger cohort of startups, Gaza Sky Geeks has started a freelance community and a coder program. The budget of $400,000 has swelled to $900,000. I saw an office with a few dozen people. These days, there are more than 120 people there on a daily basis, and all of its programs must turn away applicants.

 

[flacaltenn]

'For the price of one Israeli engineer, an [Israeli] company can hire three Palestinians in the West Bank, and they have very high motivation'or the price of one Israeli engineer, an [Israeli] company can hire three Palestinians in the West Bank, and they have very high motivation'

Like the old Jewish comedy routines.
"Don't buy it there. Uncle Mordechai can get it for you wholesale. Normally $22 a pair. But for YOU -- only $19.95"...

Seriously, money SPENDS better in the West Bank. Cost of living is way lower. So even if these engineers are making 1/2 wages -- they are gonna live JUST AS GOOD as their Israeli counterparts. It's like me charging my Cali clients "California rates" -- even tho I don't need that to live in Tennessee.

 

[flacaltenn]

The other 80 employees are based in Rawabi.

And there it is. That beautiful NEW planned Pali city I've been pitching for --- couldn't happen without sharing an economy with Israel. Latest news is that only about 40% of Palis and Israelis support a 2 state solution. PART of that is because of the economic connections like this one where wages made in Israel are a LARGE part of the West Bank GDP..

It just has to be FAIRER trade. But that's an easier problem than trying to solve the whole Mid East peace problem.

90% of Pali sympathizers don't BEGIN to understand the love/hate relationship that's going on here. Think these folks are just helpless victims. They are NOT. In fact, Palestinians are extremely motivated and innovative. And they by and large are not doing badly at all in the West Bank --- EVEN WITH the security walls and hardships.

They would be totally capable of managing their own CITIES and 'burbs", but not so hot on the idea of a "unity national govt" at all. And there is the clue to ending this awful thing.. .

(submitted the Palestine Trade Zone paper to Foreign Affairs magazine this past week, got a GOOD feeling about getting it published there)

 

[flacaltenn]

This is one of the start ups..Sky Geeks, who’s founder had left Gaza and felt he had to return, a video of was posted by T earlier I believe.


He Found A Way Out Of Gaza. Then, Something Drew Him Back.

Altaharwi is the manager of the pre-seed startup accelerator at Gaza Sky Geeks, the improbable Mercy Corps.-funded tech accelerator that operates inside blockaded Gaza. He is a rarity. Altaharwi not only managed to leave Gaza, eventually earning an MBA in Germany, but he gave up the chance to work at McKinsey, Bain or Accenture -- Big Three firms he was in discussions with -- to come back.

“He could have gone to (one of them) but decided to come back to Gaza to work with us. I still can’t believe it,” says Ryan Sturgill, Gaza Sky Geeks director.

I checked in on the Geeks during these past weeks of terrible violence. When you see the numbers – more than 115 Palestinians killed and 13,000 wounded -- it’s hard to imagine life going on normally there. The U.N. has said it will be unlivable by 2020. But more than 1.8 million people live in Gaza, and despite the electricity shortages and the collapsing infrastructure, in some places some people manage to maintain hope against the odds.

Gaza Sky Geeks is one of those places.

Amazingly, it has more than doubled in size since I visited in 2016. In addition to admitting a larger cohort of startups, Gaza Sky Geeks has started a freelance community and a coder program. The budget of $400,000 has swelled to $900,000. I saw an office with a few dozen people. These days, there are more than 120 people there on a daily basis, and all of its programs must turn away applicants.

All they need is for Hamas to stop executing people in the streets and using them as human shields. Would be one of the better places to live in the Arab world --- with sane leadership.

 

[Coyote]

The other 80 employees are based in Rawabi.

And there it is. That beautiful NEW planned Pali city I've been pitching for --- couldn't happen without sharing an economy with Israel. Latest news is that only about 40% of Palis and Israelis support a 2 state solution. PART of that is because of the economic connections like this one where wages made in Israel are a LARGE part of the West Bank GDP..

It just has to be FAIRER trade. But that's an easier problem than trying to solve the whole Mid East peace problem.

90% of Pali sympathizers don't BEGIN to understand the love/hate relationship that's going on here. Think these folks are just helpless victims. They are NOT. In fact, Palestinians are extremely motivated and innovative. And they by and large are not doing badly at all in the West Bank --- EVEN WITH the security walls and hardships.

They would be totally capable of managing their own CITIES and 'burbs", but not so hot on the idea of a "unity national govt" at all. And there is the clue to ending this awful thing.. .

(submitted the Palestine Trade Zone paper to Foreign Affairs magazine this past week, got a GOOD feeling about getting it published there)

I would add that 90% of the pro Israel doesn’t either. The prevailing narrative from that side is that the Palestinians are just a bunch of murdering regressive thugs and parasites.