Tech2Peace brings together young Palestinians and Israelis through the study of technology, entrepreneurship and conflict resolution. Our goal is to help Israelis and Palestinians create long-term friendships and partnerships, and to build strong communities of people across the divide who are able to cooperate and earn a good living together. We believe that the field of high tech provides a level playing field without boundaries, where hatred and differences can be put aside.
Although Israelis and Palestinians live geographically close together, our communities are so divided that suspicion remains high and there are few opportunities for positive interaction. Additionally, in Palestine and in smaller Israeli towns, young people find it hard to find employment and to realize their dreams of successful careers. This adds to the frustration and tension caused by the ongoing conflict.
We offer 2 week seminars where groups of young Israelis and Palestinians study, eat and live together. We offer tech training as a shared interest that unites our participants and provides a gateway to meaningful employment. It is important to us to address the hard issues in a trusting environment, building on relationships formed through tech training and social bonding. Our alumni community holds regular events that provide additional training and networking opportunities.
We are building a strong community of peace-builders who actively work towards coexistence. We aim to instil the spirit of coexistence into the Israeli high-tech ecosystem and also support joint Israeli-Palestinian NGOs, some of which have been born from our programs. We have already assisted in the creation of a number of Palestinian-Israeli startups, and hope in the future to create far more, offering employment and hope to as many people as possible in our region.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
