Israel-Hamas war threatens burgeoning Palestinian tech community
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Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios
For years there have been scattered stories about the rise of Palestinian tech startups; plucky entrepreneurs seeking to forge prosperity against long odds.
Driving the news: Today, much of that is either on hold or severely hampered, as the war between Hamas and Israel rages on.
What to know: The Palestinian territories are home to hundreds of tech startups, some backed by VCs, and also to scores of outsourced tech workers (many of whom are employed or contracted by Israeli companies).
- Some of that is in Gaza, one of the world's poorest areas even before this month.
- But the bulk of it is in Ramallah and other parts of the occupied West Bank that so far have been relatively safe from the violence.
State of play: West Bank founders and tech workers tell Axios that while many grammar schools and stores are open, and basic infrastructure remains operational, most of their work is being done from home.
- Primary roads between many West Bank cities have been closed. So have the checkpoints into Israel, which are normally used by hundreds of thousands of Palestinian workers.
What they're saying: One of those West Bank-to-Tel Aviv commuters is Moha Alshawamreh, who was profiled earlier this year by the NY Times.
- "Things will not be back to normal again until the war ends but, even then in terms of trust, communication and interactions, things might take much more time and effort," he says.
- "I have never seen these levels of hate. What Hamas did was awful and a tragedy, but the damage is way further than the killings or hostages," Alshawamreh adds. "They took us a big step back and severed the hope that many people had within them."
- Iliana Montauk, a former Gaza resident and CEO of tech talent marketplace Manara, notes that people either have been forced to evacuate or are "hunkering down and staying home."
- Her company works with around 100 engineers in Gaza and is trying to speak with everyone daily.
- Just before getting on the phone with Axios this morning, Montauk heard from a software engineer named Dalia Awad, who left her Gaza City neighborhood and says she's now is staying at her uncle's home — communicating either via solar cells he installed or via slow "street internet" connections that are accessed via cards that can be purchased at local stores.
The bottom line: There is optimism that things will get better. But dread that they'll first get worse.
