Palestine Today

[Coyote]

Here is another interesting one...surprising too.

World Bank reports high rate of Palestinian women leading startups
World Bank reports high rate of Palestinian women leading startups

Palestinian women are participating at relatively high rates in leading roles at technology startups in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a World Bank report published on Wednesday found.

Twenty-three percent of Palestinians who founded tech companies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are women, according to the report.

In comparison, 19 percent, 12%, and 10% of startup founders are women in Beirut, New York City, and Cairo, respectively, the report said.

 

[Coyote]

What is it with Palestinian women entrepreneurs?

Here is another with an innovative idea to solve a chronic problem in Gaza...lack of electricity, Hamas’ restrictions on cooperative endeavors with Israel, and the challenge of getting things through the unpredictable opening and closing of border crossings. The article goes on to describe the convoluted and often politically motivated process that is trade, particularly agricultural between Gaza and Israel.

A Palestinian woman's fight to bring electricity into Gaza defies Israeli moves against border crossings

Majid al-Mashharawi, 24, grew up in the Gaza Strip in a life of intifada, closure and blockade. One particularly painful event happened when she was 13 – she saw a man about to throw a bomb out a window, but the bomb blew up in his hands. Despite the harsh reality, she went on to study engineering at the Islamic University of Gaza, after which she decided to become an entrepreneur.

A year ago Mashharawi and partners launched their SunBox project — an inexpensive and lightweight solar-powered system that can provide energy to things like small refrigerators, laptops and smartphones. She invested a lot of time and thought into the project and traveled to Japan to meet with experts. She installed the system for free in a few homes in Gaza and is now raising money to enable subsidized sales of the device; this would decrease the price in the Strip to $250 from $350.

 

[Hollie]

In other news, it seems the UN gave Abbas a pass on his usual diatribes drenched in Jew hating.


UN mistranslation concealed Abbas'
glorification of terrorists and PA's pay for slay policy

UN mistranslation concealed Abbas' glorification of terrorists and PA's pay for slay policy - PMW Bulletins

Abbas' words:
"I pay tribute to our pure Martyrs and heroic prisoners...
whom it is forbidden to pay"
UN mistranslation:
"I pay tribute to all freedom loving countries and peoples
and our martyrs"

Was it done intentionally?


By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas during his recent speech at the UN General Assembly spoke of the "pure Martyrs" and "heroic prisoners" - "who [Israel says] it is forbidden to pay." The UN's simultaneous translator ignored Abbas' blatant glorification of terror and defense of paying salaries to terrorists by changing his words with a mistranslation! Compare the texts:

​

 

[Coyote]

If there is going to be peace it will be through the women. Palestinian women are known for their distinctive embroidery....

Two Neighbors Brings Together Palestinian Embroiderers and Israeli Seamstresses

It’s no surprise what happens when a wall is built between neighbors. As the cement is poured, as the soldiers patrol by foot, as the barrier blocks a whole people from view, any semblance of shared humanity quickly erodes. The people on the other side are lumped into an opposing and unrecognizable mass of threat, and they become impossible to empathize with and easy to denounce. But coming out of that kind of toxic environment is what makes Two Neighbors, a joint Israeli-Palestinian fashion initiative, so unexpected. The brand offers a model for how fashion can be used as a force for good in a complex, political landscape.

Two Neighbors pairs Israeli designers and seamstresses with traditional Palestinian embroiderers to create stunning contemporary designs. Every garment is a transgression — passing over that physical barrier and through both Israeli and Palestinian hands. Two Neighbors has a workshop in south Tel Aviv and coordinators in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The company is a rare instance of cooperation in an increasingly segregated setting, and it offers a literal interweaving of the people who share disputed land. The tagline is "Peace through the eye of a needle,” and through the simple act of engagement, the brand speaks of “waging our own peace process.”

 

[Hollie]

Gee whiz. Dr. Seuss got nothin' on these folks.


New Series Of Fatah Booklets For Children Glorifies Terrorists Such As Abu Jihad, Dalal Al-Mughrabi

New Series Of Fatah Booklets For Children Glorifies Terrorists Such As Abu Jihad, Dalal Al-Mughrabi

Fatah's Ideological Indoctrination Commission in Gaza has announced the publication of a new series of booklets for children titled "Stories of the Homeland," which glorify Fatah's armed struggle against Israel in the period before the signing of the Oslo Accords. Among the figures featured in the booklets are senior Fatah commanders such as Abu Jihad, who was head of Fatah's military arm and Yasser Arafat's deputy, and was responsible for multiple terrorist attacks in the 1970s and 1980s in which dozens of Israeli civilians were killed, and Dalal Al-Mughrabi, deputy commander of the 1978 Coast Road attack, in which 35 Israelis were killed and 71 were wounded.[1]

Speaking with the e-daily Dunya Al-Watan, Dr. Hussam Abu 'Ajwa, Ideological Indoctrination Commissioner for the West Gaza district, who initiated and oversaw the publication of the series, stated that "this initiative, the first of its kind, uses stories to document the history of the Palestinian people and of the Fatah movement, the largest faction in the PLO." He added that stories are an important part of the Palestinian national heritage, "which has managed to place the Palestinians on the political map by perpetuating the memory of their numerous acts of bravery and sacrifice, as a counterweight to the false Zionist narrative that is trying to eliminate and erase the Palestinian identity and essence."[2]

 

[Coyote]

First Palestinian animal welfare organisation aims to “cut the cycle of violence”


First Palestinian animal welfare organisation aims to “cut the cycle of violence”


Ramallah - The idea for the Palestine Animal League (PAL), the only locally-run animal welfare organisation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, founded in 2011, was first conceived when Ahmad Safi was working on a children’s summer camp. Ahmad, PAL's founder and executive director, saw a child sitting alone and throwing stones at a cat. He approached the boy and questioned his actions.

The boy told him that during the night, Israeli soldiers had entered his house, beaten and abducted his brother. At this moment, Ahmad saw in the boy a younger version of himself, and realised that it constitutes an important and ubiquitous problem in Palestine.

“I started thinking about how this happens. We [Palestinians] normalise violence. This is how we survive here. If you are frustrated or abused, it is normal. You have to deal with it,” Ahmad said.

In the hierarchy of violence, Ahmad believes it is often the animals that bear the brunt, as the weaker beings on which even children can vent their frustration and aggression. Ahmad thus began working with children in Jalazone refugee camp on how to deal with day-to-day life under occupation, anger management and animal welfare.

“We tried to cut the cycle of violence, to teach children how to be responsible for themselves and for weaker members of society,” he said.

“Palestine is everything, not only the human beings. Palestine is the earth, the trees, the animals,” Ahmad added. Together with his friend and co-founder, Sameh Arekat, he tried to promote these values, as well as teaching the children that being kind is not a sign of weakness, while hurting animals is not a symbol of strength, “because this is the culture that we grow up with”.

 

[Coyote]

Skateboarding camp teaches Palestinian kids to "fly" beyond walls

QALQILYA, West Bank — Residents in this Palestinian city never see the sunset; Israel's imposing security wall blocks the view towards the west, and much else. Now, a skateboarding summer camp in Qalqilya is helping kids to see a new horizon.

“When you get on the skateboard, you don’t think about all the problems you have. All you’re focused on is that you have to stay on the board and not fall,” said Abdullah Milhem, a 17-year-old from Qalqilya who first picked up a skateboard five years ago.

He says his hobby has changed his life and gave him a positive outlet for his energy instead of hanging out on the streets or getting involved in drugs or violence.

 

[Hollie]

There's a "cycle of violence"?

Who knew?


Hamas sends young children to border, arrested Gazan tells IDF
05/16/2018

Hamas sends young children to border, arrested Gazan tells IDF

Palestinians protestors gather on Gaza's border with Israel as sporadic clashes flare with Israeli forces on May 15, 2018
MAHMUD HAMS (AFP)
'Hamas organizes these riots so that the people won’t revolt', the Gazan said
A Palestinian man who had been arrested by the Israeli security forces attempting to infiltrate the Gaza border revealed during an interrogation, that Hamas urged women and young children to go to the frontline during the recent succession of protests.

“They [Hamas] tell women to go forward [the frontline of the riots]: ‘you are a woman, go forward, the army does not shoot women.’” the suspect said, whose face had been blurred out in the video.

 

[Coyote]

A New Generation of Palestinian Chefs Poised to Conquer the World
A new generation of Palestinian chefs poised to conquer the world

“I was linked as a child to my family and tradition, we celebrated all the holidays and I knew a lot of the stories and history, but not in depth. When I learned to read and speak Arabic fluently, the language became my heritage. Even the choice to deal with cooking professionally was part of a process of opening up to my family and community’s culture. When I handed the book to my father, he wept with emotion and said he never thought that I of all people would contribute so much to changing the world’s image of the Palestinian people,” Kalla said.

The chef is part of a wave of third-generation Palestinian refugees and exiles trying to revolutionize their people's image by preserving and publicizing Palestinian culture. In many places, including Israel, first and second generations of immigrants are busy overcoming trauma and the difficulties of immigration alongside adapting to a new society. Those of the third generation don't need to prove they belong in the place where they were born, and many eventually seek to return to their roots and the traditions from which they were cut off.

The kitchen provides a comfortable means of identity formation — in this case Palestinian — and can be used to disseminate historic and national heritage. The rhetoric used by these young chefs, many of them women, recalls the way in which the kitchen helped Jews preserve their identity in the Diaspora.

 

[P F Tinmore]

 

[P F Tinmore]

 

[Mindful]

 

[P F Tinmore]

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.

The problem with things like high tech, art, and music is getting paid for your work. Getting money from client to producers in Gaza is precarious and expensive. In the West Bank, Pay Pal for example, will service illegal settlements but will not provide services to the Palestinian village whose land that settlement sits on.

Also, Gaza has infrastructure for tourism. The problem is that there are no tourists. Hotels only get Israeli approved journalists and NGO workers. Before Israeli restrictions, Israeli Jews used to go to Gaza for food and entertainment.

 

[Hollie]

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.

The problem with things like high tech, art, and music is getting paid for your work. Getting money from client to producers in Gaza is precarious and expensive. In the West Bank, Pay Pal for example, will service illegal settlements but will not provide services to the Palestinian village whose land that settlement sits on.

Also, Gaza has infrastructure for tourism. The problem is that there are no tourists. Hotels only get Israeli approved journalists and NGO workers. Before Israeli restrictions, Israeli Jews used to go to Gaza for food and entertainment.

No tourists in an enclave controlled by Islamic terrorists who routinely commit acts of war against Israel - with the expected Israeli response?

I’d have thought that the Islamic terrorist war being waged by Islamic terrorists along the Israeli border would be a tourist magnet. But you’re saying it’s not.

I find that shocking!

 

[P F Tinmore]

Ali Abunimah from Gaza to Freedom: Future Scenarios for Palestine/Israel

 

[P F Tinmore]

 

[P F Tinmore]

Q & A with Ali Abunimah from Gaza to Freedom: Future Scenarios for Palestine/Israel

 

[Hollie]

 

[Mindful]

 

[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.

The problem with things like high tech, art, and music is getting paid for your work. Getting money from client to producers in Gaza is precarious and expensive. In the West Bank, Pay Pal for example, will service illegal settlements but will not provide services to the Palestinian village whose land that settlement sits on.

Also, Gaza has infrastructure for tourism. The problem is that there are no tourists. Hotels only get Israeli approved journalists and NGO workers. Before Israeli restrictions, Israeli Jews used to go to Gaza for food and entertainment.

But don’t you think the Palestinian leadership owns some responsibility for this?