Tech for Palestine launches to provide tools to help support Palestinians
More than 40 founders, investors, engineers and others in the tech industry are today announcing a coalition called Tech for Palestine to build open source projects, tools and data to help others in the industry advocate for the Palestinian people.
The launch of the group comes during a tense time in the region. Hamas’s October 7th attack on Israel led to the deaths of more than 1,100 individuals. The war in the Gaza Strip that followed has seen the displacement of millions of Palestinians and tens of thousands of deaths.
The Israel-Hamas war has proved divisive to the tech industry. Israel, home to a well-known technology and startup market, has seen strong support from tech individuals and institutions. In contrast, calls for ceasefires and speaking in support of Palestine have caused some to lose their jobs.
Paul Biggar, the founder of Tech for Palestine, hopes to raise more awareness of the war in Gaza, fight for a permanent ceasefire and provide ways for those who are afraid to speak publicly in support of Palestine to still offer support. It is one of the first tech initiatives to take a public stance supporting Palestine and could represent a turning point in the venture industry’s posture regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict as more people seek to speak out in favor of a ceasefire.
Biggar, the founder of the company CircleCI — last valued at $1.7 billion — formed the coalition after writing a viral blog post that criticized the lack of support the tech industry has shown Palestinians. He said that after he wrote his blog post, thousands of people reached out to him with words of support, many of them afraid to speak up themselves for fear of potential career impacts.
Among them, he said, were “dozens of people not only speaking up but who had started projects to change the industry to ensure that people speaking up for Palestine could be heard. Dozens of others were volunteering to help,” Biggar added. “I started connecting these folks together, and the [Tech for Palestine] community came together very quickly.”