Meeting WordPress Developer Rola Zaqout. She Moonlights Building Bzzra, a Popular Gardening Community from Gaza!
In the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, beseiged Gazans may not survive bombing and starvation. As my heart is with my Gazan Mentee, I share my experience working with her, because Palestinians are not represented in American media.
Update: Please donate to Rola Zaqout’s GoFundMe to escape Gaza war zone with her family!
In 2014, I signed up to mentor virtually at Gaza Sky Geeks Accelerator, a Google-backed program run by Iliana Montauk. She paired me with Rola Zaqout — “the first woman I saw in Gaza who checked out ‘The Lean Startup’ from our library and read it, entirely of her own volition.”
She was inspired her to start Bzzra because “Gaza is a small region with a high population density and green areas that get smaller every day. We want to encourage gardening culture in Arab countries, not only in Gaza, by making it easier, cool, and fun to start gardening!”
I learned about the restrictions on Gazan residents (electricity is limited to hours a day) — we had to schedule our Skype calls around her availability.
The next year, I was able to volunteer at Gaza Startup Bootcamp in Gaza with my TechWomen Mentee Mai Temraz, a Grace Hopper Abie Award winner! As Gaza Sky Geeks was run by Mercy Corps, the volunteers were able to cross Erez from Israel into Gaza.
The 5-day trip to Gaza was a lovely experience as I met so many warm, friendly Gazans who love food and technology. Pictures are below — or see my photo album from Gaza here!
My favorite evenings were spent eating with Gazans:
My FAVORITE dinner with my Mentee’s family at their beautiful rooftop garden — you almost forget they live in a refugee camp in Gaza.
With each Israel-Gaza war, my heart aches for the sleepless nights she and the Gazans endure with the endless bombings. Lately I’ve been horrified at white phosphorous bombing in Gaza, absolutely illegal, and the weeks of no food/water/fuel orders from Israel as Palestinian collective punishment for Hamas’ atrocities on October 7.
I am devastated and disappointed that Hamas and Gazans are false equivalences. It’s misleading to believe that all Gazans are Hamas. About half of Gaza’s population are children, who were either not alive when Hamas was elected or not of voting age.
I join the call of universities and cities globally for immediate ceasefire, humanitarian aid, and stopping the cycle of violence.
Peace is the only battle worth waging. — Albert Camus
More useful links:
- Resources for Gaza, from Donations to Lobbying
- TechCrunch: Palestine’s growing tech industry has been literally blown apart by the war between Israel and Hamas
- Fortune: The Israel-Hamas war has already had a tragic impact on tech workers in Israel and Gaza
- Visit Palestine.tech is a travel guide for techies
- Tell Secretary Blinken you demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza now!
Remembering Slain Palestinians and their Places — Ideas for Educational Projects — Because Oakland Children Want to Learn About Palestine!
Basically I just looked at UNRWA’s update on the situation on the ground (click on the United Nations logo to view the latest):