Help Us Hack Middle East Peace

The time during and after the violent events of May 2021 were some of the hardest, and most important, times in our rapidly growing community - totaling 270 young Palestinians and Israelis after this summer, along with a network of 50 active experts, consultants, and mentors.

Tensions were high during the violence of May 2021. Conflict points emerged. We had many hard conversations, through WhatsApp, one-on-ones, in-person meetings, and countless Zoom dialogues.

We remembered how difficult this work is, how far apart the two sides are, and how quickly tensions can boil into conflict

“It is not worth breaking down what we've built for something temporary. This community can go on for years and make a lot more change but we would be defeating that potential if we entice and give each other reason to leave” – alumni quote

But most importantly - we remembered how important our work at Tech2Peace is. We remembered that there are people from both sides that love and care about each other; that are willing to listen, to hold the pain and complexity, and to continue working together towards a better shared future.

Alumni said that being part of the community made this cycle of violence different than any before. When they saw headlines or felt afraid or angry, they thought of their friends on the other side, and had people to talk to, instead of allowing their rage and fear to grow and grow.

“I think our community is capable of achieving great progress through technology and cooperation. These dialogues are first meant for us to be able to understand each other, and through that be able to create a change.” – alumni quote

In the end, our community has emerged, together, ready to continue meeting and innovating towards brighter days ahead, demonstrating to society that it is both possible and mutually beneficial for Palestinians and Israelis to work together, without ignoring the realities of the conflict.

The following activities are not technically funded under the CMM grant but are possible due to the support of CMM and highlight our accomplishments.

June 2021 Hatzeva Seminar

The violent events in May forced us to postpone our planned seminar, but we were able to overcome these setbacks. Just two weeks after the ceasefire we held a 12-day seminar, bringing 30 new Palestinians and Israelis into the community. The seminar followed the pattern of all past seminars - the participants addressed the hardest issues of the conflict, listened and talked, and worked together on high-tech and entrepreneurial training and projects.

We were happy to welcome new mentors from the top of the field to the seminar to guide our teams in the Google for Startups workshop:

Inbal Perlman (TAU Ventures), Irwin Boutboul (Google), Gadi Kenny, Nimrod Cohen (TAU Ventures), Eliran Rubin (TLV Partners), Ori Schnitzer (KitePride TLV), Orr Hameiri (Procter & Gamble), Adi Foksheneanu (Team8), Lilach Moses (Salesforce), Ohad Levie, Yael Kochman, Yael Malatzaki, Adi Orenstein, and Michael Matias!

Hatzeva Seminar Alumni Weekend

The Hatzeva seminar staff was entirely made up of alumni (besides the seminar manager, Chen) and 15 alumni visited the seminar for a weekend. These two aspects contributed significantly to creating a sense of ongoing community among Hatzeva participants, more so than in the past. Additionally because of our communication about the alumni program, Hatzeva participants have a clear idea of the alumni community and were excited to join.

Jerusalem Entrepreneurship Weekend

Immediately following the Hatzeva seminar we held a weekend entrepeneurship and dialogue seminar in Jerusalem. The seminar was planned and led by two alumni leaders from our local Jerusalem community – an important capacity-building training and opportunity to empower our alumni community to create their own initiatives. 25 Israeli and Palestinian Jerusalemites (including alumni and newcomers, expanding the impact of our program beyond our immediate beneficiaries) gathered in an two-night overnight seminar, including: entrepreneurship training and lectures, dialogue on the events of May 2021, a dual narrative tour of Jerusalem, social activities, and a startup pitching event. The weekend was highly successful, with good spirits, a feeling of community, intense and important dialogue, and interesting entrepreneurship sessions.

Seminar Preparations – CMM

We completed all of the preparations for the August seminars. We had a highly successful recruiting effort, with over 600 applications for 120 total seminar spots this summer. We reserved all seminar locations, lodging, food, vendors, lecturers, and mentors. We held preparation meetings with staff and participants. We are fully ready and excited for the August seminars!

We will bring 10 extra participants to the second August seminar (40 total participants) to account for the required number of Arab citizens promised in this project, while keeping a balance with Jewish-Israelis and West Bankers. We will thus use our general operating budget to cover some costs of the seminar, covering the costs of the West Bankers that aren’t specifically targeted in this project.

Hatzeva Reunions

The Hatzeva seminar participants have already had two of their own reunions, one in Tel Aviv and one in Beit Jala. The participants are very close to each other and to the alumni community.

Eid al Adha Gathering in Beit Jala

We held a formal alumni-led event in Beit Jala with 30 alumni.

Oranim Dialogue Weekend

We held an alumni-planned and led dialogue weekend seminar at Oranim Academic College, with 30 alumni from all six past seminars. We engaged in dialogue on the events of May 2021, including personal experiences, general narratives from both sides, discussing what happened in our community, and how we as a community can respond in the next cycle of violence. We had difficult and meaningful discussions. While it was hard to bring up these events, we know it is necessary to address the realities of the conflict.

Hackathon

We held an alumni-planned and led hackathon in partnership with Madrasa, an organization that teaches Arabic to Hebrew-speakers. 20 of our alumni joined 20 mentors from the high-tech industry, staying up for 24 hours to code interactive games and systems for Madrasa’s curriculum and application. The teams produce three games that Madrasa will implement. Social media posts and live stream from the event reached thousands, spreading a model of productive Arab-Jewish cooperation.

1. Describe any challenges that you have faced during this period.

The May events posed a significant challenge to our community. Tensions were high and there were difficult posts and conversations in the WhatsApp group. We were inspired to see alumni bringing down the heat of the conversation, sharing inspirational messages.

Here are a few quotes from our WhatsApp group (not for distribution):

“Wallah the only thing keeping me sane is the fact that there's a T2P community”

“My mom, may she rest in peace, told me a powerful statement once on how to deal with some of the horrible realities. ‘Look at the people helping. There are always people helping.’ We need to have first and foremost faith in eachother as humans in order to lessen the horrible suffering everywhere around us.”

“It is not worth breaking down what we've built for something temporary. This community can go on for years and make a lot more change but we would be defeating that potential if we entice and give each other reason to leave”

“Especially in these times, Israeli-Palestinian unity matters more than ever. I really do believe our community can overcome this together, that we can stand together against extremism, violence and hate, even with these incredibly painful videos. Let's remember we're allies together against all of this ”

“I think our community is capable of achieving great progress through technology and cooperation. And that the discussions are first meant for us to be able to understand each other, and by so be able of creating a change.”

About 10 alumni left the WhatsApp group during May, however all have since returned.

One significant challenge was finding a safe and neutral space to meet. Many alumni, especially in Jerusalem, wanted to meet with each other, but were nervous to cross to the “other side.” We are now searching for a permanent space in Jerusalem in a “neutral” area to address this issue in the future.

Cycles of violence occur in Israel-Palestine every few years. Peacebuilding organizations must be ready to address them. While the conversations in our community were hard, we prefer that they happened rather than the alumni coming to their own conclusions without speaking to the other side. Our community has survived these times and for many the connection is even strengthened, providing us evidence that our efforts to invest in an ongoing community are valuable and worthwhile.

1. Significant observations.

One powerful story from May 2021: a Palestinian alumni from East Jerusalem shared that during the events of May 2021 he was completely disillusioned with peacemaking and was angry at the other side to the point of feeling he was capable of violence. He received a text from a Jewish alumna just checking how he was, and he remembered then that there are people from the Other side that care, that have their own narratives and perspectives, and he has since returned to being an active alumni, participating in two alumni events since then.

I hope you’re doing well during these challenging times. Our hearts are very heavy.

A few weeks ago, despite already-high tensions in Jerusalem, we held a Ramadan Iftar break-fast in the West Bank - an event that was characterized by a feeling of love and family.

In the last few weeks our community has been tense, but strong bonds remain. We, the staff, and also alumni, have been reaching out to each other, checking to make sure everyone is safe, ensuring each person feels cared for, listened to, and respected.

We held a Zoom call where alumni shared experiences and we have a number of in-person meetings planned.

While the current situation is hard, it shows why our work is so important. The fact that our community has stayed connected in these hard times is a light amongst the despair.

Before the current tensions, we had a productive quarter.

During this quarter we launched our alumni-led community teams in the areas of high-tech, dialogue, and ‘alumni forum and initiatives,’ along with local communities in three cities. These efforts have been successful and promising, as the alumni themselves have taken the lead in creating a vibrant community. The community is increasingly self-sufficient: currently 30 alumni hold leadership roles, solely or with staff assistance organizing at least monthly opportunities (20 formal activities in four months of 2021 so far) for dialogue, high-tech training, social activities, and professional development - including networking events, dialogue (e.g. recent lecture and dialogue session with a US Foreign Service Officer, and a three-day dialogue weekend in Haifa); technical and soft-skills training (e.g. recent lecture series with Microsoft), sharing job and internship opportunities, mentorship (e.g. current program with Mckinsey & Co. Consultants), employability training, access to startup accelerators (e.g. our close partners, 50:50 Startups), training in dialogue facilitation, access to support for Arab-Jewish professional and social collaborative projects, and extended blended program (e.g. alumni-led three-day weekend seminar in East Jerusalem with high-tech training, dialogue, and recruitment elements upcoming in June). Alumni have also created local organic communities in three cities and frequently meet-up informally. The active participation and leadership of alumni in creating the community, and the strong personal bonds among alumni that exist outside of the influence of T2P staff, are encouraging signs that the community will continue to thrive beyond the scope of this program or even of T2P