

 One Laptop Per Child reaches Gaza Strip - ilike
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8651580.stm

======
scottporad
I think this is great! To the extent that Gazan children become more educated
and exposed to the outside world...I think they'll crave stability and growth
from their leaders over "armed struggle".

You see the opposite in China. The Chinese leaders are afraid of what their
people will do when exposed to the outside world, so they censor their
Internet.

~~~
ars
I think people have a mistaken view of Gaza. There's plenty of technology.
Most people have cell phones, and can call, text, web browse to the outside
world if they want.

Computers are not rare either (10% of households). Almost all have TV's
(although many local broadcasts are propaganda, about 25% people have
satellite dishes).

There is plenty of contact to the outside world if they want it.

Source for numbers:
[http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/DesktopModules/Articles/ArticlesView....](http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/DesktopModules/Articles/ArticlesView.aspx?tabID=0&lang=en&ItemID=275&mid=10982)

Nicholas Negroponte's quote demonstrates an utter lack of knowledge of what
life it like there. "even when getting to school is impossible"? I guess
that's true for his computer, but it's not really a problem is Gaza, education
is universal there.

There is armed conflict occasionally which prevents school, but there is that
in Israel too. Usually it's flare ups that last a day, and every couple of
years a big war. But all that it true for Israel as well.

~~~
jbooth
Sort of. They're penned inside Gaza which isn't very big (maybe 10X the size
of manhattan), they can't leave or trade, and Israel bans such threatening
imports as concrete, which "could be weaponized".

What they have in the way of school are a bunch of brainwashing institutions
run by Hamas trying to create perfect islamic soldiers.

This isn't to take sides in the conflict, Hamas and Israel are both
contributing to the hopelessness of every day life for average people in Gaza.
But let's not minimize it by virtue of a couple of statistics regarding TV
ownership.

~~~
ars
Actually the schools are mainly run by the UN. Parents can choose a Hamas
school if they want though.

And everyday life is most certainly not hopeless for the average person. Why
do you think that?

They are penned in though, and I'm certain that they hate that. But from a
practical point of view it doesn't prevent much - lots of people never travel
far from their home town.

If they wanted change in their worldview, they could. If they ever actually
have have their perpetually delayed elections, we'll find out what they really
want.

~~~
jbooth
I'd consider it hopeless if I were there. Not many places on earth I'd be less
excited about living than there.

As far as whether "they" could change.. awfully hard when you've got Israel on
one side and Hamas on the other. Not much room for empowered moderate politics
there. Hamas could change, sure.. but until they do, nobody without an army is
going to change anything.

~~~
ars
> Not many places on earth I'd be less excited about living than there.

Really? They have among the highest life expectancies in the world, and all
the health indexes (maternal death, infant mortality, etc) are very high.

I'd hate living in places like Rawanda much much more - actually pretty much
anyplace in Africa, despite not being penned in.

But I could see why you'd hate living in a place controlled by Hamas though.

~~~
MichaelSalib
_all the health indexes (maternal death, infant mortality, etc) are very high_

That statement seems to contradict
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_Strip#Health> ; can you cite any published
data justifying your claims?

~~~
ars
Tons.

And the wikipedia text is very misleading, because it does not compare the
data to other countries. For example nearly all woman during childbearing
years are anemic, there is nothing unusual about gaza.

Infant mortality: (for comparison 49.4 is world average)

[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/...](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html#gz)

It has one of the lowest death rates in the world:

[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/...](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/rankorder/2066rank.html?countryName=Gaza%20Strip&countryCode=gz&regionCode=me&rank=214#gz)

You can check the rest of the numbers for yourself:

[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/...](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/gz.html)

