Missing an opportunity or seizing the moment

Former Israeli politician and diplomat Abba Eban once said of the Palestinians that they “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” When I go to Palestinian Territories I meet so many who are seizing the moment. They face walls, restrictions and blockades but where others hear the word “NO” they create opportunity - so I’ve collected a few of them below. 

Nasser Jaber (NYC) Jaber is from Ramallah but moved to NYC just after 9/11 with the dream of becoming a banker on Wall Street. He ended up working in restaurants to make money and quickly learned about the importance of the service industry and food security. Instead of going into finance, he opened a restaurant on the Lower East Side - he used it as a space to develop a business model that would hire refugees, allowing them to cook, share their stories and earn wages. This would evolve into him partnering up with a world renowned Mexican chef to found The Migrant Kitchen. When COVID-19 hit New York, he launched a campaign to feed over 2 million people in the city who were suffering from the crisis, but just months after, two mass explosions rocked Beirut leaving many in Lebanon in dire need - especially those in refugee camps. He jumped on a plane to Beirut and was operational in Shatila refugee camp in just 24 hours.

Majd Mashharawi (GAZA)  A TED fellow, born, raised and currently resides in Gaza. Mashharawi is a 25-year-old civil engineer who longed to find a solution to Gaza’s constant power shortages. Her first invention was a brick that uses coal and wood ash as filler material - an alternative to cement which is more durable, lighter and half the price of regular bricks. Cement is considered a dual use item in Gaza so Israel doesn’t allow it to come in - so she found an alternative. She then founded Sunbox - a solar panel company that provides electricity, cheaply and sustainably, for the people of Gaza. She gives power to her people.

Dr. Walid Namour (EAST JERUSALEM) Among the very sick children battling severe cancer cases in the Augusta Victoria hospital he is simply known as “Al-Mudir Walid” but truly, he is an example of leadership in the face of crisis. While East Jerusalem hospitals are buckling under the weight of new COVID cases in the city, there’s a network of six hospitals serving the residents of East Jerusalem. Dr. Namour had to ensure he could deal with COVID patients but keep them seperate from the immunocompromised cancer patients in his ward.

Laila Akel (RAMALLAH) Most people don’t know this but about 25% of startups in the Palestinian Terrirtoies are lead by women. That’s higher than New York City (about double actually) and higher than Beirut (about 21%). Laila Akel founded RedCrow - it’s a security company that was founded during the Second Intifada to help Palestinians get from point A to point B safely, using public information sharing. Now the company sells its technology to many companies across the Middle East and even has contracts in Israel.