Tech2Peace is building a network of young Israelis and Palestinians who are equipped with the high tech skills, professional opportunities, and mutual understanding needed to work together toward a brighter, shared future.
Good news about strengthening regional cooperation .
Read what Programme Director Arava Gerzon Raz has to say:
A few weeks ago, I received an email inviting me to participate in the EU Pact for the Mediterranean consultation in Brussels. I didn’t know anyone there and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I said yes anyway. A few days later, an airline ticket and hotel reservation landed in my inbox, and before I knew it, I was in Brussels with 80 representatives of civil society organisations, youth movements, think tanks, and social entrepreneurs from across the Mediterranean. The consultation was organised by the European Commission (DG MENA) together with the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) as part of the implementation of the Pact for the Mediterranean, a new European framework that aims to strengthen regional cooperation through shared ownership and practical partnerships. The conversations focused on how civil society can actively shape implementation in areas such as community resilience, peace and security, entrepreneurship, and youth participation. What surprised me most wasn’t the policy discussions. It was the atmosphere.
As a refugee now living in Brussels and a participant from Beirut, and over coffee I found myself making new friends from Tunisia, Jordan, Europe, and beyond. People genuinely wanted to get to know one another. They were curious about each other’s work, eager to exchange ideas, and open to exploring collaborations, both formal and informal. Despite our different backgrounds, there was a shared understanding that many of the challenges facing our region can’t be solved by one organisation, or even one country, alone. It’s a feeling I recognized immediately, because it’s the same one we work to create at Tech2Peace. Every seminar we run is built on that same premise: that trust between people from different sides of a conflict doesn’t come from agreeing on everything, it comes from showing up curious, sitting across from someone unfamiliar, and choosing to stay in the conversation anyway. Watching that same dynamic play out in a room full of strangers from across the Mediterranean was a powerful reminder of why this work matters far beyond any one region or conflict – and why the relationships our participants build with each other are just as important as any curriculum we teach.
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that opportunities rarely arrive with a clear label saying, “This will be important.” Sometimes they begin with a surprising email from someone you’ve never met. None of this happens without the people who make it possible. Every dialogue seminar, every new friendship formed across a conflict line, every alumna who goes on to lead in her community, all of it is made possible by supporters like you.
