Tech for Palestine Coalition Launched To Support Palestine

A coalition of 40 founders, engineers, product managers, community builders, investors, and tech employees has formed Tech for Palestine, an initiative to promote a free Palestine and end tech’s support for the Israeli war on Gaza and the West Bank. ^[1]  

Launched on 2 January, the initiative brings together members of the tech community to build open-source projects as well as to provide tools and data to help end the war on Gaza and promote a permanent ceasefire. In addition to providing a platform for collaboration, it aims to normalize speaking up for Palestine and counter the "cancel culture" that many pro-Palestinian advocates have faced in recent months. ^[2]  

The coalition aims to support the cause by fighting for a permanent ceasefire; raising awareness about investors and companies that continue to support Israel; supporting and collaborating with investors and companies that support Palestine; supporting Palestinians in tech in Palestine and the diaspora; raising awareness about the Palestinian people; and raising awareness about the Israeli genocide and the complicity of the tech industry. It is also collaborating with other projects outside of the tech community that have similar goals. ^[3]

Collaborators can work on projects with Tech for Palestine on github or discord.

The coalition was founded by tech entrepreneur Paul Biggar, whose LinkedIn post “I can’t sleep” went viral in December. People and projects working to raise awareness about Palestine and the genocide in Gaza--many of whom were afraid to speak out--reached out to Biggar to collaborate after reading his post, setting the initiative into action. Tech for Palestine also has plans to work with Palestinian organizations and support Palestinian startups with mentorship and cloud credits. ^[4]

Tech for Palestine launched with 4 projects, including a list of VC funds that continue to support Israel; a github shield/badge that engineers can use to show that they support a ceasefire; an html snippet that founders and other tech workers can add to their websites and blogs to call for a ceasefire; and a website and dataset that lists Israeli tech companies and offers MENA and international alternatives.

Palestine’s nascent tech industry in both Gaza and the West Bank has been largely destroyed by Israel's war on Gaza over the past 3 months.  ^[5] A 2022 America Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) Report estimated that outsourcing accounts for more than 80% of the Palestinian tech ecosystem, with Palestinian startups and other local tech companies accounting for the rest.  ^[6]