
Google To Invest Millions in Palestine - amrnt
http://blog.bazinga.ps/2010/12/Google-To-Invest-Millions-in-Palestine
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endtime
As someone with family in Israel and strong views on the ME conflict, I think
this is great news. Anything which supports/encourages the Palestinians making
their own lives better and producing stuff which doesn't explode is a good
thing for everyone in the region. This sort of thing is how a viable
Palestinian state is going to come about, if ever.

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gabea
I think that the part of your comment regarding "producing stuff which doesn't
explode" is very unnecessary. Your level of bias is clearly evident here.
Instead of trying to pull both sides together through the positiveness of such
news you add fuel to the conflict. Having family in the region does not make
your statement any more authoritative then it would for someone with family in
Palestine.

I hope you rethink your intentions here and in future posts about this
terrible conflict attempt to be more evenly considerate. Remember there are
always two sides to every story.

Thank you.

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_pius
Comments like this stop threads from devolving into flame wars. Thanks.

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Samuel_Michon
Inflammatory title. The story is about investments in Gaza and the West Bank.
'Palestine' is not a country, it's a name for an entire region, including
Israel and parts of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The author probably meant
'Palestinian National Authority'.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_National_Authority>

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snowmaker
Is Google in the practice of making these kinds of investments in very early
stage tech sectors? What is in this for them?

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cdibona
Yes. I didn't cut this deal, mind you, so I can't speak for Gisele, but we do
indeed make these kinds of investments if anything as early as possible in a
region.

It might be perceived as riskier, but I would say that it's likely only
slightly riskier than funding a startup anywhere else.

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cagey
It will be _exceedingly_ interesting to watch the progress/outcome of this
investment ( _if_ Google chooses to share honestly, something that's clearly
optional). The best indication of the actual ROI of this investment will be
whether further investments are forthcoming (although Google could pour a few
tens of millions USD down a hole and not notice). Anyone know if Google has
invested comparable amounts in Lebanon, Syria or Libya?

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VB6_Forever
From the story it seems they are investing €2 million. It doesn't seem like a
lot but hopefully it will be just the start

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Qz
€2 million may not seem like a lot in western nations, but typically third
world countries have a much more favorable exchange rate of dollars/euros into
local currency. All those charity ads on TV that talk about people surviving
on less than $2 a day tend not to mention that $2 a day can buy you a lot of
more stuff in other countries than in the US.

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VB6_Forever
good point

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cool-RR
I wonder, why are they doing this? I mean, the reason tech companies go to
Israel is because there's an enormous concentration of talent there. Why would
they go to Palestine? I don't think there's any talent there. Is this a
humanitarian thing?

I'd be happy to hear first-hand experiences from people who worked with
Palestinian developers or with software produced by Palestinian developers.

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VB6_Forever
Hmmm declaring the people of a territory you occupy to be less talented than
your own people. Reminds me of something

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cool-RR
That's a completely trollish comment.

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VB6_Forever
Dehumanising 'others' allows people to do unjust acts with a clear conscience.
The flimsy anecdotal evidence you gave as the basis for your dismissal of the
Palestinian people suggests to me that you are not so clever or talented as
you may think.

