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There are Palestinians that work for Israeli companies. They mostly live in the West Bank. If you live in Gaza, it's very difficult to travel out of it. The so

by dopeboy 10y ago

There are Palestinians that work for Israeli companies. They mostly live in the West Bank. If you live in Gaza, it's very difficult to travel out of it. The southern border to Egypt is closed. The northern border (which is the one we went through) is open but you need permits to enter Israel. The military takes its time with the permits and it's not always guaranteed you will get one. This makes a commuting sort of setup impossible. The women there were treated and educated the same. Some of them outshined the guys. I saw modern laptops and screens where ever I went. Definitely more Android than iPhone. There is difficulty around bringing in 3D printers. I did not meet any Gazans who worked for local companies. Most seemed to work for the gulf or were working on startups aimed for deployment in the gulf.

heh 10y ago
As you pointed out, Egypt has the border closed and Israel has a restricted open border. People don't seem to realize that the "siege" on Gaza isn't just an Israeli-Palestinian issue, and that Israel no longer controls the Gaza Strip. It's actually controlled by the Hamas, a theocratic terrorist organization. Imagine if the W.B.C took over Kansas, started shooting rockets at your civilians in Colorado for being pot smoking heathens, and then wanted open borders? Ironically movements like the BDS actually cause Palestinians who work for Israeli companies to loose their jobs.[1] Liberal minded Israelis make up about half of the population and there are many efforts to bridge the gap through entrepreneurship [2][3]. The left in Israel did fairly well in the last election, and actually gained some seats. [4] I think if you actually talk to the Israelis and the Palestinians in tech, not the politicians, you'll see that that most of them want to live in peace with their neighbors. Also, peace is good for (start up / tech) business. [1]http://www.timesofisrael.com/victory-for-bds-as-sodastreams-last-palestinian-workers-lose-their-jobs/ http://www.timesofisrael.com/victory-for-bds-as-sodastreams-... [2]http://www.inc.com/jill-krasny/palestinian-internship-program-israel.html http://www.inc.com/jill-krasny/palestinian-internship-progra... [3]http://www.elephant.org.il/events/event-in-haifa-for-creating-joint-israeli-palestinian-startups http://www.elephant.org.il/events/event-in-haifa-for-creatin... [4]http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/24/world/middleeast/israel-benjamin-netanyahu-next-steps.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/24/world/middleeast/israel-be...
- mr_tyzic 10y ago
  > Ironically movements like the BDS actually cause Palestinians who work for Israeli companies to loose their jobs. This argument was often made against anti-apartheid sanctions on South Africa. The answer was that it was for the oppressed population to decide.
  - Papirola 10y ago
    whose answer?
    - mr_tyzic 10y ago
      The answer of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, which few (in the West at least) would now argue was wrong.
  - amitport 10y ago
    1 - I doubt anybody asked the Hamas-oppressed population of Gaza. When they'll want to boycott their employers they'll just quit their jobs. 2 - The situation is very different from the south-African "apartheid". Gaza is a sovereign territory with an hostile religious fanatic government that forced Egypt and Israel to maintain highly secured borders. The Israeli law does not discriminate its citizens and there are Palestinian parliament members and judges. 3 - By employing both Israelis and Palestinians, companies actually contribute more to peace and equality than BDS ever will.
    - bhouston 10y ago
      > The situation is very different from the south-African "apartheid". Gaza is a sovereign territory with an hostile religious fanatic government that forced Egypt and Israel to maintain highly secured borders. The Israeli law does not discriminate its citizens and there are Palestinian parliament members and judges. One of the most comprehensive sources on the Israel apartheid comparison is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_and_the_apartheid_analogy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_and_the_apartheid_analo... > By employing both Israelis and Palestinians, companies actually contribute more to peace and equality than BDS ever will. A bunch of human rights organizations have evidence that the Palestinians are exploited as a cheap labor that is outside of Israeli labor protections: https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/04/13/ripe-abuse/palestinian-child-labor-israeli-agricultural-settlements-west-bank https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/04/13/ripe-abuse/palestinian... It would be cool if Israeli companies adopted somethign akin to the Sullivan principles which were adopted by ethical South African companies during the apartheid era: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sullivan_principles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sullivan_principles Then you know they are not just using Palestinian labor for cost saving reasons, but the companies are showing support and are working towards breaking down the system of inequality that is currently in place there.
slavak 10y ago
Just to add a [hopefully] interesting tidbit from experience as an Israeli: While Gazans don't really have the option of working directly for companies in Israel because of the travel restrictions, there are IT outsourcing firms in Gaza who contract for Israeli companies. We worked with such a firm in one of my previous job, and I even had the chance to speak to their engineers on the phone once or twice. (Conversation was entirely in English, since they didn't understand Hebrew, and my Arabic is less than stellar to make a huge understatement.) I didn't personally have the chance to meet them face-to-face, but a few of the higher-ups went. The meetings were understandably rare and not easy to arrange, and they had to take place in specified locations in the vicinity of the border checkpoint, as the Palestinian engineers were limited in their allowed travel within Israel. (And the Israelis aren't allowed into Gaza at all.)

by dopeboy 10y ago

heh 10y ago

As you pointed out, Egypt has the border closed and Israel has a restricted open border. People don't seem to realize that the "siege" on Gaza isn't just an Israeli-Palestinian issue, and that Israel no longer controls the Gaza Strip. It's actually controlled by the Hamas, a theocratic terrorist organization. Imagine if the W.B.C took over Kansas, started shooting rockets at your civilians in Colorado for being pot smoking heathens, and then wanted open borders? Ironically movements like the BDS actually cause Palestinians who work for Israeli companies to loose their jobs.[1] Liberal minded Israelis make up about half of the population and there are many efforts to bridge the gap through entrepreneurship [2][3]. The left in Israel did fairly well in the last election, and actually gained some seats. [4] I think if you actually talk to the Israelis and the Palestinians in tech, not the politicians, you'll see that that most of them want to live in peace with their neighbors. Also, peace is good for (start up / tech) business. [1]http://www.timesofisrael.com/victory-for-bds-as-sodastreams-last-palestinian-workers-lose-their-jobs/ http://www.timesofisrael.com/victory-for-bds-as-sodastreams-... [2]http://www.inc.com/jill-krasny/palestinian-internship-program-israel.html http://www.inc.com/jill-krasny/palestinian-internship-progra... [3]http://www.elephant.org.il/events/event-in-haifa-for-creating-joint-israeli-palestinian-startups http://www.elephant.org.il/events/event-in-haifa-for-creatin... [4]http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/24/world/middleeast/israel-benjamin-netanyahu-next-steps.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/24/world/middleeast/israel-be...

mr_tyzic 10y ago
> Ironically movements like the BDS actually cause Palestinians who work for Israeli companies to loose their jobs. This argument was often made against anti-apartheid sanctions on South Africa. The answer was that it was for the oppressed population to decide.
- Papirola 10y ago
  whose answer?
  - mr_tyzic 10y ago
    The answer of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, which few (in the West at least) would now argue was wrong.
- amitport 10y ago
  1 - I doubt anybody asked the Hamas-oppressed population of Gaza. When they'll want to boycott their employers they'll just quit their jobs. 2 - The situation is very different from the south-African "apartheid". Gaza is a sovereign territory with an hostile religious fanatic government that forced Egypt and Israel to maintain highly secured borders. The Israeli law does not discriminate its citizens and there are Palestinian parliament members and judges. 3 - By employing both Israelis and Palestinians, companies actually contribute more to peace and equality than BDS ever will.
  - bhouston 10y ago
    > The situation is very different from the south-African "apartheid". Gaza is a sovereign territory with an hostile religious fanatic government that forced Egypt and Israel to maintain highly secured borders. The Israeli law does not discriminate its citizens and there are Palestinian parliament members and judges. One of the most comprehensive sources on the Israel apartheid comparison is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_and_the_apartheid_analogy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_and_the_apartheid_analo... > By employing both Israelis and Palestinians, companies actually contribute more to peace and equality than BDS ever will. A bunch of human rights organizations have evidence that the Palestinians are exploited as a cheap labor that is outside of Israeli labor protections: https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/04/13/ripe-abuse/palestinian-child-labor-israeli-agricultural-settlements-west-bank https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/04/13/ripe-abuse/palestinian... It would be cool if Israeli companies adopted somethign akin to the Sullivan principles which were adopted by ethical South African companies during the apartheid era: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sullivan_principles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sullivan_principles Then you know they are not just using Palestinian labor for cost saving reasons, but the companies are showing support and are working towards breaking down the system of inequality that is currently in place there.

slavak 10y ago

Just to add a [hopefully] interesting tidbit from experience as an Israeli: While Gazans don't really have the option of working directly for companies in Israel because of the travel restrictions, there are IT outsourcing firms in Gaza who contract for Israeli companies. We worked with such a firm in one of my previous job, and I even had the chance to speak to their engineers on the phone once or twice. (Conversation was entirely in English, since they didn't understand Hebrew, and my Arabic is less than stellar to make a huge understatement.) I didn't personally have the chance to meet them face-to-face, but a few of the higher-ups went. The meetings were understandably rare and not easy to arrange, and they had to take place in specified locations in the vicinity of the border checkpoint, as the Palestinian engineers were limited in their allowed travel within Israel. (And the Israelis aren't allowed into Gaza at all.)