Published: 3 May 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN youths are joining together, learning new skills and engaging in conflict resolution dialogue thanks to a number of new technology partnerships in the troubled region. Can tech really make a difference?
Israel may be known as the Start-up Nation, famed for its tech start-ups that are supported by one of the largest venture-capital industries per capita in the world.
But Israeli-Palestinian relations have been relentlessly grim ever since the foundation of Israel in 1948 and the subsequent Arab-Israeli conflict that has been rumbling on ever since.
Initiatives like Tech2Peace are trying to bridge divides between the two communities.
"I joined the program alone, but made many great friends from both Palestine and Israel, who I am in touch with today," says participant Zada Haj.
The student and volunteer-led program brings Israeli and Palestinian youths together to learn tech skills - 3D and graphic design, website creation, app development - and to engage in conflict resolution dialogue.
FULL STORY How tech is bringing Israelis and Palestinians together (BBC)
Photo: Palestinian Zada Haj says the Tech2Peace program has helped her make new Israeli friends (BBC)
