Live data from Hacker News

West Bank Buzz: The Quiet Rise of a Palestinian Silicon Valley

worldcrunch.com

11–20 of 21 posts

Re: West Bank Buzz: The Quiet Rise of a Palestinian Silicon Valley

#11
post #5
post #4

All hanging by a thread, since random buildings can be bombed or demolished as 'retaliation'.

You're thinking of the Gaza Strip, which is under Hamas rule. Israel doesn't bomb buildings in the West Bank.

There's lots of illegal settlements and wells being concreted, though.

Re: West Bank Buzz: The Quiet Rise of a Palestinian Silicon Valley

#12
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're thinking of the Gaza Strip, which is under Hamas rule. Israel doesn't bomb buildings in the West Bank.

There's lots of illegal settlements and wells being concreted, though.

True, but hardly relevant to the discussion.

Re: West Bank Buzz: The Quiet Rise of a Palestinian Silicon Valley

#14
post #5
post #4

All hanging by a thread, since random buildings can be bombed or demolished as 'retaliation'.

You're thinking of the Gaza Strip, which is under Hamas rule. Israel doesn't bomb buildings in the West Bank.

Israel doesn't bomb buildings in the West Bank right now. They do demolish them randomly in retaliation, or because they need the space to build more Jewish-only roads and settlements, or... (Note that I do genuinely mean Jewish-only rather than Israeli-only here; non-Israeli Jews are allowed but Israeli Arabs aren't.) That's not to mention the odd state-sanctioned and IDF-protected terrorist attack by settlers on Arabs in the West Bank.

Re: West Bank Buzz: The Quiet Rise of a Palestinian Silicon Valley

#15

Great work. Hope us Israelis can start working more closely with our neighbors. Definitely considering making a version of http://mappedinisrael.com/ for the West Bank.

Simplest question: has anyone made an Arabic translation for Waze?

Also, they take salaries of 70% less than us? Ya Allah, we're fucked. Better get all the West Bank tech workers employed to bring the wages up to our levels.

Re: West Bank Buzz: The Quiet Rise of a Palestinian Silicon Valley

#16
post #4

All hanging by a thread, since random buildings can be bombed or demolished as 'retaliation'.

The West Bank has been sort-of quiet for about 10 years (since the end of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Defensive_Shield), though I suppose that doesn't give any guarantees.

Re: West Bank Buzz: The Quiet Rise of a Palestinian Silicon Valley

#18
The anti-NGO sentiment resonates with me. I spent the last year living and working in Bangladesh and it's the same story. People get educated to get jobs for foreign aid agencies, not to innovate. This creates a very clear, wide-spread systematic culture of dependency.

Clearly aid agencies are doing good things sometimes. And there are NGOs moving toward fostering business and accountability rather than traditional giving. Still, a lot of work needs to be done. Basically aid should be reserved for post-emergency situations, I believe. Multi-decade aid programs are not going to lead to self-sustaining economies. At least not if some major changes happen.

Re: West Bank Buzz: The Quiet Rise of a Palestinian Silicon Valley

#19
post #14
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're thinking of the Gaza Strip, which is under Hamas rule. Israel doesn't bomb buildings in the West Bank.

Israel doesn't bomb buildings in the West Bank right now. They do demolish them randomly in retaliation, or because they need the space to build more Jewish-only roads and settlements, or... (Note that I do genuinely mean Jewish-only rather than Israeli-only here; non-Israeli Jews are allowed but Israeli Arabs aren't.) That's not to mention the odd state-sanctioned and IDF-protected terrorist attack by settlers on Ar…

> Israeli Arabs

Nitpick: 'Israeli Arabs' aren't necessary non-Jewish; there are a number of Arab Jews throughout the middle east, and some of them are in Israel.

(Your point still stands, but people are unaware of the above often enough that I feel it's worth pointing out, because it emphasizes that the region is not as black-and-white as poltiics sometimes seem.)

Re: West Bank Buzz: The Quiet Rise of a Palestinian Silicon Valley

#20
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's lots of illegal settlements and wells being concreted, though.

True, but hardly relevant to the discussion.

It's in the same damn place, I think it prudent to bring it up.
Post reply on HN