
What It's Like to Build a Startup in Gaza - nreece
http://www.wired.com/2014/10/like-build-startup-gaza-strip-bombs-drop/
======
616c
I am sure that this article will turn into a political flamewar nightmare, but
I really appreciate these kids trying. I live in much better circumstances and
I am not sure I could stick my neck. By comparison, my reasons seem silly.

I know some Gazans like elsewhere in the Arab world, but I have never asked
them what internet connectivity is like in the Strip. Things are so bad with
infrastructure stability, I could not believe they had functioning internet
during routine bombardment and military operations, especially enough for
startups.

Very interesting article, but I have one pet peeve. The word is halas, it is
routinely translated khalas or 5alas (from خلاص). I have studied Arabic now
approaching ten years, and I have never seen this mistake before.

What is funny is that, when mocking expats and foreigners trying to integrate
culturally and linguistically in Arab cities (I was a target of this of
course), this is like always the first word (then maashi, ok, then in shaa
allah, God willing) every expat who spends time in the MENA region sprinkles
into their speech. Almost always is it used in the incorrect context, with
moronically extreme overuse.

The journalist could have easily Googled this: halas tells you nothing on
Google, while the first result for me for khalas is Yahoo Answers, where
someone asks how to use that word.

~~~
Jun8
Interesting point about _khalas_. Romanization of "ha" is problematic, "kh" is
often used as you state
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%B8%AA%C4%81%CA%BE](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%B8%AA%C4%81%CA%BE)).
But for speakers who don't normally use this sound, e.g. English, this can
lead to mispronunciation, where it is replaced by a "k" using backformation
based on this transliteration. For example _khan_ is usually pronounced as
_kahn_ in the US (as in "The Wrath of ..." or for a more recent one: Khaleesi)
which is quite off. In this case using "h" would have been better perhaps.

As the Wikipedia page mentions some IE languages also have this sound, but in
this case it is generally transliterated as "ch", not "kh", e.g. Loch Ness,
which adds to the confusion.

------
walk_monster
As an Israeli, I think this is the way to solve this conflict.

Because educated people like them, who want to live a normal life and build a
career are the ones who can make a change. Its sad that so many people have to
suffer because of a smaller number of religious fanatics that launch rockets
from hospitals, dig tunnels into Israel, and are even against peace.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Palestinian_militancy_camp...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Palestinian_militancy_campaign)

These people are the kind people who can change that. I really hope these guys
succeed in their projects!

~~~
pinkyand
How? If Gaza was democratic, like before the 2007 Hamas coop d'etat, I can see
how educated people would help.How would they matter? i'm pretty sure if you
asked today, almost everyone in Gaza would prefer the Hamas to just go away.

If we judge from history, what they need now is some sort of civil war.

~~~
eksith
I'm not a starry eyed idealist (most of the time) to think everyone can hold
hands and bring peace to the world, but there has to be a peaceful resolution
to this somehow.

A civil war is the absolute worst thing that can happen now as that will only
bring unimaginable misery and horror to those who are already suffering on all
sides of this conflict. Those who stand to profit the most, both politically
and economically, will stand clear while shouting the loudest as usual while
the most vulnerable and least inclined to commit violence will get caught in
the fire.

~~~
pinkyand
Yes , a civil war would be awful, but maybe as a result we'll see democracy in
Gaza and a chance for peace with Israel.

On the other hand, is there any other realistic scenario where Hamas is
replaced by a peaceful party? Or even Hamas being transformed into a peaceful
party ? I'd love to hear a realistic one.

~~~
eli_gottlieb
>On the other hand, is there any other realistic scenario where Hamas is
replaced by a peaceful party? Or even Hamas being transformed into a peaceful
party ? I'd love to hear a realistic one.

Yes: the casualties mount until unconditional surrender becomes their best
option.

No, that was not supposed to be a pleasant statement to read.

~~~
pinkyand
Than what happens ? who takes control of the west bank ?

Most likely answer is a big mess, other militant groups and tribes(hamulut)
fighting for control. kind like a civil war.And than who ever wins, you got a
new terrorist organization. Hopefully we get one that is willing to work with
Israel. But we might not.

But a civil war with the purpose of peace, by peaceful citizens ? Maybe
that'll work.

------
BrianEatWorld
I am always amazed to hear how people live there.

When I went to university, I remember meeting a guy from Gaza at a house
party. At first, it was a bit of shock, because all the sudden this very
distant place, which had spawned countless debates in my government and
international politics classes, stopped being quite so far and became very
real. I imagine I asked all the typical questions for a foreigner,
particularly one informed by US media outlets. However, like this article, the
most interesting thing was talking about every day life. He and I traded
stories from our high school days, going to parties, first concerts, dating.
Reading this now, it things look things have gotten worse, but I will never
forget that realization that all over the world, people are just people.

Good luck to these guys. Grinding in a startup isn't easy and I can't imagine
doing it in a war zone helps.

~~~
pyromine
I had a similar experience when I met someone from Iraq, all of a sudden Iraq
was not some desolate place I only saw in the news, but somewhere I knew
someone from. It really is incredible how different your perspective is simply
by meeting someone from somewhere you only had an abstract concept of. The
world really does feel smaller now.

~~~
Synaesthesia
Nationalism really holds the world back, pro,opting an us apps them kind of
mentality. When really we are all very much the same, you will meet amazing
people all around the world.

------
bjourne
Any idea on how we can help these guys and girls? Sending physical supplies
has a low chance of getting through Israel's blockade. Can they somehow be
connected to the Internet in a resilient way that survives bombs and
restrictions?

~~~
eksith
Ubiquiti was linked here a little while ago
[http://www.ubnt.com/broadband](http://www.ubnt.com/broadband) Their point-to-
point wireless can travel a fair distance, but I don't know how resilient it
can be. Something similar that is resistant to jamming (possibly frequency
hopping, spread-spectrum) might be what's needed to bridge the gap to the
wider internet.

Of course, any emanating signal strong enough may attract fire as well, so
local communication may be limited to mesh networks similar to what's being
used now during the Hong Kong protests.

------
ilaksh
I actually believe that technologists can't ethically remain aloof from
politics, global geopolitics, or even military systems. There are too many
lives at stake.

I urge technologists who are concerned about this humanitarian crisis to look
at a map of the area in question and research propaganda and global
geopolitics in general.

------
peter303
There are creative, smart people everywhere

------
m0skit0
"Initiated by a Hamas attack on Israel, the most recent conflict" Please avoid
such ignorant and biased comments. You actually don't need them for the
article.

------
davidf18
I nearly escaped a terrorist attack that sent 20 soldiers to the hospital in
Jerusalem in 2008 when I purchased a candy bar at the last moment. I was in
Israel during "Cast Lead", Israel's 2008 incursion into Gaza. I also know
someone whose pregnant wife was killed when a Hamas terrorist bombed a
Jerusalem family restaurant that I had earlier attended.

The article states that Israeli initiated a blockade of Gaza when Hamas won
the election and that building materials and people are unable to enter or
leave Gaza as a result. This is an incorrect statement because Israel does not
surround Gaza, rather its ___border to the West is with Egypt which also
closed their border, the Rafah Junction_ __. In fact, the current President of
Egypt, Sisi really hates Hamas (Hamas is the Gaza branch of The Muslim
Brotherhood). The Muslim Brotherhood and other forms of militant Islam are
threats of stability to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and other Arab countries.
Both Egypt and Saudi Arabia were very supportive of Israel attacking Gaza in
the recent conflict. President Sisi worked very hard to close the illegal
tunnels between Gaza and Egypt.

The cause of the suffering in Gaza is that Hamas shoots missiles into Israel.
Those missiles and other war goods and concrete for making tunnels into Israel
were smuggled through underground tunnels between Egypt and Gaza. Thus, the
key to the safety of Gazan civilians is the closing of those tunnels and the
demilitarization of Gaza/Hamas. Since Hamas took over Gaza in 2006, they have
been shooting missiles into Israel, yet neither the US or other members of the
International Community had until recently worked with Egypt to close those
tunnels.

We all feel terrible that innocent civilians in Gaza are being killed (just as
innocent civilians in Germany and Japan were killed in WW II). Ultimately, the
people who elected Hamas (just as those Germans who decided to follow Hitler)
are ultimately responsible for the deaths of their fellow civilians.

~~~
maceo
You're right, the tunnels can't exist, for the sake of Israel's security.
You're also right when you say that Sisi (a tyrant) hates Hamas and he worked
to close the tunnels.

What you fail to mention is that Egypt eliminated over 1,300 illegal tunnels
along their border without killing a single civilian. Israel on the other
hand, murdered over 1,500 civilians in the process of dismantling the illegal
tunnels on their border. This was no accident, it was calculated murder on the
part of the Israeli government.

~~~
davidf18
The Egyptians flooded the tunnels with sewage on the Egyptian side. The
tunnels, unlike the ones from Gaza into Israel are not used to kill civilians,
nor is Hamas shooting missiles into Egypt.

You might be interested in the words of British Colonel Kemp, who was in
charge of all British forces in Afghanistan:

"Kemp pointed out that, during the operation, there was approximately one
civilian casualty for ever terrorist killed by the IDF, whereas the average in
the world is four civilians for every combatant, and that, when taking into
consideration Hamas’s use of human shields, this shows how careful the IDF is.

“No army in the world acts with as much discretion and great care as the IDF
in order to minimize damage. The US and the UK are careful, but not as much as
Israel,” he told the committee." [http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-
Conflict/Former-British-co...](http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-
Conflict/Former-British-commander-in-Afghanistan-No-army-acts-with-as-much-
discretion-as-IDF-does-374382)

------
cyphunk

        "Initiated by a Hamas attack on Israel"
    

Narrow interpretations like these show either an ignorance of events or
arrogant bias, and are not that hard to avoid as a writer if you actually try.

~~~
jsz-
Technically, the recent conflict was in fact, initiated by Hamas.

~~~
IkmoIkmo
Technically it wasn't at all. It's a lot more complex than people think. But
do we really want to have this conversation?

~~~
jsz-
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is very complicated I agree. But the latest
events were triggered by Hammas organization. That's all..

~~~
IkmoIkmo
> _the latest events were triggered by Hammas organization_

Perhaps I'd take the comment a bit more seriously if you actually knew how to
spell the name of the political party you're accusing and didn't create this
account 1 hour ago just to reply to an article about Startups in Gaza that
'Hammas' triggered the latest events.

Again, the situation is far more complex. There is no evidence that Hamas
leadership was aware of, much less called for the kidnapping. It appears it
was a lone cell. It's tragic, no less, but not grounds to trigger a war
against an organisation who wasn't aware or responsible, especially not if it
leaves over a thousand civilians dead and entire neighborhoods destroyed as
collateral damage. Similarly, when a Palestinian boy was brutally beaten,
kidnapped and burned alive days after by people unaffiliated with the IDF,
there were obviously no grounds for anyone to start a war against the IDF,
especially not if it'd leave over a thousand civilians dead.

The aftermath of the kidnapping was important. On the phonecall that one of
the kids made to report their kidnapping shots are heard, and that same day
the bloody car is found in which the boys died. The Israeli government at that
time knew the boys weren't alive, yet staged a campaign to round up members of
a political party that they had no evidence to tie to the kidnapping. The
kidnapping was used as a carte blanche under the pretense of a rescue
operation, while it was obvious from the start there was sadly no rescuing to
do. About 400 people were arrested, several houses were demolished and 10
Palestinians were killed in these raids.

Imagine if Hamas went into Israel and arrested 400 people of the Likud party,
killing 10 and demolishing homes, after being accused of killing innocent
children without any evidence tying them to these crimes. (of course, ignoring
the ironic fact that it's well-documented that the IDF did kill roughly 500
Palestinian children this year, like the kids playing football on the beach
this summer)

From there it escalated. Now let's look at the backdrop to this event. Hamas
and Fatah sought to form a unity government, which was supported by virtually
all of the planet including indeed the US, the UN and the EU, China, India,
Russia etc. Israel was the only party who opposed it and immediately after
announced building of 1500 houses in West Bank settlements, which may I remind
you, are illegally occupied territory under international law, a fact that is
again quite universally recognized by just about everyone except Israel.
Again, imagine two political parties choosing to come together with the
support of the entire world, one country opposing who promptly increases
settlements in illegally occupied territories of the land governed by these
two parties forming a unity government.

This is the context in which such tragic events happen. People don't kidnap
others as an extracurricular activity, and so it's doubly myopic to say it
were kidnappings happening purely in isolation that triggered this. If I
occupy part of your house, control your doorsteps, your electricity, your
water, your fridge, oppose your political self-determination and announce to
occupy extra parts of your house, and you hit me, and I start a war with you,
it's myopic to simply say 'you hitting me triggered this war'. It's simply
more complex than that and it does nobody good to take all these shortcuts.

Obviously these settlements as a reaction to a political decision of two
parties, and the subsequent raids, arrests, demolishing and killings of one of
those parties, with the consequence of thousands of civilians dead, is the way
of provocation and escalation, not diplomacy.

Again, it's all much more complex.

~~~
jsz-
Perhaps I'd take your comment more seriously if you didn't call Hamas a
political party.

But seriously - I have so much to say about what you wrote, but I don't think
HN meant for this kind of discussion.

So, back to on topic stuff: is RAILS really dead?

~~~
IkmoIkmo
It's quite clearly a political party. If that means you think I'm trying to
legitimize them, I'm not, I'm very comfortable in saying I deplore many of
their brutal actions and in also calling them a terrorist organisation.

But it is also a political party that participated and won in elections.
Whether elections were free or completely closed isn't relevant to basic
terminology. Dictatorships have political parties, too. I'm assuming you also
wouldn't have called Hezbollah a political party, or the NSDAP, or the CCP?
Just because they do shitty things doesn't mean we can't use basic terminology
to describe them.

I really respect you withholding comment on anything else for the sake of
keeping things on topic. Kudos. I'll make sure to do the same.

~~~
hnhg
It's sad that you're being downvoted for a reasonable and factually-based
comment. This isn't reddit, folks.

------
PakG1
Dammit, HN, don't do it. [http://xkcd.com/787/](http://xkcd.com/787/)

~~~
davidw
This article is, technically, sort of on-topic for this site, so I didn't flag
it, but you can see how easily anything even remotely political goes off the
rails and turns nasty. Maybe I should hit the 'flag' button.

~~~
cyphunk
I appreciate HN most for insights or debates on non-technical issues. So I
wouldn't flag for it being OT. You may flag however for it getting too
controversial. However, this will just a continued reality for anything in
relation to Israel and Palestine for our life times.

~~~
angersock
Yes, I go to Hacker News to read things which aren't controversial. Sigh.

------
joshuaheard
"Hamas—the democratically empowered Islamic organization determined to reclaim
Palestine from Israel"

If you mean hanging your political opponents from bridges and executing them
in the public square, then yeah, Hamas is "democratically empowered".

And the Hamas charter states its goal is the destruction of the state of
Israel, not merely reclaiming land.

~~~
Synaesthesia
Hamas won the elections in Gaza, which were supervised by Israel and the
United States. Israel is also committed to the destruction of Gaza it would
seem, by bombs, and the colonization of the West Bank.

Remember Israel kicked Palestineans out of their homes during the 1948 war,
simply appopriated their property and didn't allow them to return by passing
an absentee landlord law.

~~~
EGreg
Hamas did win the elections in 06 - I followed them and they won on a platform
of promising better social programs thantheir opponents.

That was um - 8 years ago. In the immediate aftermath their actions drew
sanctions from the US, EU, UN and Russia, on the entire Palestinian Authority,
and they wound up splitting from the unified government and taking over Gaza.
That led to the sanctions being lifted against the PA and imposed on Gaza
alone. Then they had a civil war with Fatah over control of Gaza (which to be
fair was just as much if not more Fatah's initiative) and wound up killing and
expelling the rival Fatah government members from Gaza entirely. After this, a
blockade was imposed on Gaza by both Israel and Egypt, as Hamas secured its
iron grip on Gaza and routinely affirmed its ideological goal to "liberate"
Palestine from the Zionists - a completely impractical diplomatic position
that harmed the Gaza population enormously for the next decade.

Not that Hamas was too concerned about that. They were getting funding from
Islamic states and went to work securing the Gaza strip and consolidating its
power. To its credit, Gaza is tribal (the clans are called Hamullas) and it
plunged into anarchy in the aftermath of Israeli withdrawal and resettlement
of all Israelis from the Gaza strip. You can appreciate the situation
preceding these elections by reading some news articles from the time:

[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/17/international/middleeast/1...](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/17/international/middleeast/17mideast.html?pagewanted=print)

It is in this environment that Hamas, an organization committed to an ideology
that it placed above the lives of Israelis and indeed Gazans - came to
prominence. Since that election there have been no fair and free elections. I
don't think the mark of a democracy is that they have one election and the
majority party drive out the rest of the government and maintain an iron grip
for the next couple decades. They are closer to the Kim regime in North Korea.
Hamas's governancd has been terrible for the Gazans by perpetuating their
blockade, and Hamas itself has become almost completely internationally
isolated. In this latest war, an unprecedented number of nations including
Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE have joined the chorus calling for their
disarmament.

So I would take issue with the idea that Hamas is somehow a legitimate and
good government for the people of Gaza. Before this war, most of them wanted
to get rid of Hamas! Having said that, operations like this cause people to
support Hamas who they now would elect over Fatah leaders if elections were
held today. This itself is sad because as has been shown over and over Hamas
perpetuates the suffering of Palestinians. Not just because of international
sanctions and nearbcomplete isolation, and not just because of expanding Sunni
Sharia which hurts less Islamically religious Palestinians including
Christians, etc. but at the root because they put their ideology ahead of
human lives. Any ideology in power - whether nazism, communism, or in this
case a fanatical belief that "All Palestine is a waqf to Islam until the end
of the world" which is in their charter - leads to mass death. After all
technically speaking Hitler may have been democratically elected. So we should
guard against this.

Having said that, I think Revisionist Zionism is the ideology that empowers
the radicals on the Palestinian side, whether religious or not. Not all
Zionism but Revisionist zionism, which traces its roots to Jabotinsky but
ultimately found expression in such groups as Lehi and Irgun. Menachem Begin
was despised by the main leaders of Israel such as Ben Gurion and the entire
Labor party. It is interesting to note that at that time Israel was within the
"1967 lines" and got even more threats from various Arab countries, that said
they shouldn't have a state at all. Besides launching actul military attacks
against Israel, many Arab countries also expelled Jews (a sort of Jewish
Nakba, the main difference being that Jews had a state that welcomed them, a
state which the Arab League nations wanted to destroy without regard to how
many people lived in it).

Not many people talk about this but the expelled Jews were able to find a home
in Israel and swell its population. In fact most Jews in Israel came to Israel
as refugees - whether from the Holocaust in Europe or the expulsion from Arab
countries BEFORE 1967. Some went to Israel, others went to the US, China and
Western countries. They were able to get asylum and their children have become
citizens!

Meanwhile millions of Palestinian refugees do not get the same treatment, even
and especially from the Arab League countries that are supposedly championing
their "cause" to begin with!

Their actual treatment by these countries is appalling. Did you know that over
half of the people considered "Palestinian" live OUTSIDE Israel, te West Bank
and Gaza? For GENERATIONS they have lived as refugees with NO citizenship.
Think about that - you live in a segregated "refugee camp" and barred (in
countries such as Lebanon) from owning property or holding many jobs (doctor,
lawyer etc.) Your children born in the land - no matter how many generations -
do not get citizenship and spend their lives in the same situation.

This is ACTUAL apartheid and it has been artificially perpetuated by many Arab
League countries, while claiming it is for their own good. It's not a joke,
the Jordanian govt has consistently said this as a talking point as recently
as in the last decade. They refuse to give asylum specifically to Palestinians
- even the ones fleeing the civil war in Syria. They simply drive them back
over the border (whatever the UN conventions about that may be.

There is an element of realpolitik here that most Western "free Gaza"
protestors miss. Arab countries HAVE tried to take in Palestinians but
experienced their own problems with the PLO. This idea that Palestinians
should have their own state has played out in more theaters than Israel. The
Jordanian government had a civil war with the PLO after it annexed the West
Bank and it does not want to go back to that dark time again. Kuwait expelled
Palestinians because the PLO sided with Saddam in the Gulf war. Lebanon's
Hezbollah formed out of a Shiite minority funded by Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran
as much against the influx of Sunni Palestinians (the PLO was based IN Lebanon
at the time) as the Israeli army's activities in Lebanon. And just as recently
as last year, Assad committed genuine war crimes against his Palestinian
population living in refugee camps, such as cutting off food and starving tens
of thousand of Palestinians in a camp that used to be the largest one in Syria
with hundreds of thousands.

[http://www.timesofisrael.com/three-years-of-civil-war-in-
syr...](http://www.timesofisrael.com/three-years-of-civil-war-in-syria-no-end-
in-sight/)

So instead of the neatly packaged narrative of "Israel vs Palestinians" look
at it as people, governments and ideas. How many millions of people and their
generations of children living in Arab countries have to suffer because of the
excuse that the policy supports building a Palestinian state in Palestine?
Imagine if Jews were told by European nations that they had to live in 21st
century ghettos for as many generations as it took until Israel was
established. Not even the USSR - a militantly atheistic country - treated them
this badly. Palestinian nationalism wasnt even a dominant movement until the
PLO, and like all movements to forma state and get power, the PLO had its
share of corruption. But millions of Palestinians have to pay the price, not
at Israel's hands but other countries as well. Actualy, arguably speaking the
Palestinians who live in Israel proper have the same quality of life as in
Western countries such as Canada where they have real opportunities (the
singer Nasri for example, whose song is currently topping the charts, is of
Palestinian descent). And if they get their own state, there are legitimate
reasons to worry it won't be very tolerant of Jews, Christians and will most
likely be a Sunni Sharia state.

So I guess there is a point to my whole essay that I wound up writing here.
Look at people, look at governments and international coalitions and talk
about ways those those governments can work together to benefit the people at
large, economy, real infrastructure, and protections for minorities. There are
no easy solutions but if international programs are put in place, with a
realistic roadmap and accountability, and governments each do their part, we
can solve these problems brick by brick. Expecting Israel to do it all alone
is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Look
at the new geopolitical alliances in the Arab and Persian world because of
ideological jihadist threats like ISIS, look at te unprecedented will to
disarm Hamas, and start there. Let's start helping people.

[http://magarshak.com/blog/?p=172](http://magarshak.com/blog/?p=172)

[http://magarshak.com/blog/?p=174](http://magarshak.com/blog/?p=174)

~~~
Synaesthesia
I agree with much of what you said. I am fully aware of the conditions
Palistineans live in. It is appalling. Look Hamas does have a lot of issues,
but you're not mentioning the causes of these issues, namely the continue
humiliating circumstances which Israel imposes on Palestineans, the apartheid
state which they have to endure, not to mention the terrorist bombings and
targeted assassinations conducted by Israel. In such an environment of terror,
extreme parties are bound to come into power. And of course this suits Israel
because then they can deligitimize the Palistineans even more.

~~~
EGreg
Yeah I take your point. Before 1967 one could hardly make that point but after
the 6-day war Israel has inherited responsibility for the Palestinian
populations of West Bank and Gaza.

I guess the main thing I wanted to stress is that singling out Israel
perpetuates the problems of Palestinians all around the world. It's perverse
how the BDS movement and others expect Israel to magically fix all the
problems. Egypt participates in the blockade, and the sanctions against Hamas
were done by many other countries besides Israel. At the end of the day one
should see how policies of governments affect regular Palestinians, and mot
just focus on Israel's governent alone. It's pretty clear that Hamas has been
terrible for Gazans, and it's sad that they don't really care. When they lost
a lot of their outside funding they agreed to a unity government so they could
continue to get paid by the PA. They hardly ever have seriously cosidered
working with the rest of the world besides Israel on a roadmap where they
disarm in exchange for raising the blockade and $50B in investment to develop
Gaza's natural gas and tourism industries. It's not like the other countries
werent offering such terms. Hamas is just super focused on retaking ALL the
land including Israel, an unrealistic goal but hey, they sterted as a
"militant resistant movement" and they had to compete for mindshare as the
"authentic" Islamic movement that wouldn't sell out. This doesnt serve the
people they "govern" very well.

Just this summer that all came to a head: [http://english.al-
akhbar.com/node/20887](http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/20887)

The Arab world except Qatar pretty much gave up on Hamas - Shiite regimes like
Assad have been attacked by them and Sunni regimes like Saudis realized that
sunni militants are a bigger threat than Israel. They put the Islamic
Brotherhood on a terror list along with ISIS and they were the ones who helped
back the military coup in Egypt. Egypt participates in the blockade of Gaza as
well.

In short the region should solve the problem not Israel alone. All those BDS
movements that single out Israel keep perpetuating the insanity imho.

------
bakareika
What bothers me is that Hamas (and jihad-driven islamists in general) are
seemingly a minority, even in Gaza. Why don't you build a reservation for them
or something?

There are many parties who are interested in re-igniting the conflict, for
example those who sell weaponry. Clearly neither Israelis nor Gazans (talking
about general population, like 99.9% of the people) are enjoying the moment.

(I personally wrote many loc in a shelter, to a soundtrack of sirens and
explosions — islamists' rockets aren't even targeted at something specific,
they just continuously bomb more populated areas in Israel, major cities.)

~~~
IkmoIkmo
_Why don 't you build a reservation for them or something?_

Seems to me all of Gaza is a reservation, as are the bantustans in the West
Bank...

I really don't mean to incite any political conversation here. I enjoy it, but
I don't think HN is the right platform for any meaningful discussion, unless
it's targeted to be. But this thread is about startups in harsh conditions.

------
kjjw
Get ready to hear indirectly from IDF PR the standard line of defence of their
recent actions. "They started it!"

------
zvanness
Uh oh, get ready for being called "anti-semetic" if you even remotely show any
sympathy for these kids...

I came across an article a while ago about some Palestinian kids inventing a
device to convert plastic waste to petrol. I think it's amazing that amidst a
world of hell, they are still trying to apply their minds:
[http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/12/occupation-cant-stifle-
innova...](http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/12/occupation-cant-stifle-innovation/)

~~~
wslh
It seems like almost everyone was sympathetic with them.

