Today, more than 40 tech founders, investors, engineers, and others announced Tech for Palestine, a group to establish open source projects, tools, and data to support industry advocates for Palestinians.
The gang began amid a tumultuous moment in the region. Over 1,100 people died in Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. After the Gaza Strip war, millions of Palestinians were displaced, and tens of thousands died.
The Israel-Hamas conflict has split the tech industry. Tech people and institutions support Israel’s tech and startup scene. However, calling for ceasefires and supporting Palestine have cost some employment.
Tech for Palestine creator Paul Biggar wants to raise awareness of the Gaza conflict, push for a lasting ceasefire, and allow individuals who are frightened to speak up for Palestine to still support it. It is one of the first digital projects to publicly support Palestine, and it might change the venture industry’s perspective on the Israel-Hamas conflict as more individuals call for a ceasefire.
CircleCI founder Biggar, last valued at $1.7 billion, launched the group after penning a viral blog post criticizing the tech industry’s lack of support for Palestinians. He added that thousands of individuals reached out to him after reading his blog article, many of whom were frightened to speak up for career reasons.
He added there were “dozens of people not only speaking up but who had started projects to change the industry to make Palestinian voices heard.” Biggar said several were willing to help. “I connected these folks, and the [Tech for Palestine] community came together very quickly.”
The early-stage portal will showcase small-group initiatives and exchange resources and advice, as many pro-Palestinian tech workers do privately. Idris Mokhtarzada, creator of the unicorn Truebill, will assist in constructing the platform. It has designed a badge for engineers to use on GitHub and HTML snippets for websites to display a ceasefire banner.
Biggar intends to mentor and credit Palestinian entrepreneurs and engage with Palestinian groups. Eltrys said that the battle damaged most of Palestine’s IT industry.
Muslamic Makers founder Arfah Farooq said the past three months had altered everyone in ways. She has never witnessed such unity and action. “I’ve seen firsthand how people come together to work for Palestine with nothing but their laptops from across the globe,” she added.
After reading Biggar’s viral blog article, she joined Tech for Palestine and started sharing Palestine support materials. “We help wherever we are, but the siege prevents us from going to Gaza,” Farooq added.
An unnamed engineer joined the group because they felt suffocated at work. This engineer and product manager will assist in establishing Tech for Palestine tools, stating, “I hope this initiative will spark a significant shift and give people their voices back.”
A former tech brand marketer who is afraid to come out for fear of affecting a new job hunt told Eltrys that he was glad to help the cause.
“This period has been incredibly isolating to Arabs, Muslims, and other people of color in VC and tech,” she remarked. “Tech for Palestine is essential. The IT community cannot remain silent when hundreds of thousands of people worldwide and in the U.S. demand peace and Palestinian humanization.
The Tech for Palestine project comes as Palestinian deaths escalate. US officials have allegedly urged Israel to safeguard Gazan civilians while maintaining unwavering support for Israeli security in recent weeks.
Biggar thinks this new group will spur more individuals to speak out.
“The narrative has only just turned,” he remarked. “We are only getting started to enable many more who feel silenced to speak out.”
