This week, Brad Feld, Eric Ries, Guy Kawasaki, Clayton Christensen, and countless other startup thought leaders came to Gaza… thanks to you!
As you may have read in my last blog post, Gazans have no access to books about startups. People do not have credit cards and cannot make purchases online so even if they have a tablet, Kindle books are out of the question. Because Gazans have no access to physical copies of books about startups, they treasure the few here. Until two weeks ago, there was only one copy of The Lean Startup in all of Gaza.
Two weeks ago, we asked for your contributions… and we received a veritable outpouring of support. In total, 47 book donations arrived from about 20 different people. They came with thoughtful notes, too. “For my brothers and sisters in Gaza,” read one. And “Read the advice, but do not always follow it,” read another.
Two airplanes and two checkpoints
Getting the books here was an adventure. I was in California for work and to visit family, so I suggested that book donors send their books to my home there. I would bring them back to Palestine in a suitcase.
When I jumped up to Portland for meetings at Mercy Corps‘s headquarters, I got a huge batch of books courtesy of Lynn Le. With no extra suitcase on hand, though, I was not sure how to get the books to San Francisco. I decided to empty my carry on bag, filled it with books, and put all of my clothing in plastic bags instead. Quick and cheap solution!
The flight from San Francisco to Tel Aviv was easier: all 47 books fit easily into an extra suitcase. But as I got off the flight in Tel Aviv and got ready to exit the airport, I got nervous. I had been told previously that the authorities at the airport often check luggage and charge customs tax on new purchases. All of my friends in this region bring back iPhones, Android phones, baby carriers, and other commodities when they fly back to Tel Aviv because these items are all cheaper in the United States than here, but they have sometimes been stopped by customs.
Thankfully, it was 3 a.m. when I landed and the customs officials did not check many of the passengers. I made it through!
The next checkpoint was the one between Israel and Gaza. Every time I enter Gaza, the Gazan government checks my luggage. Prohibited items include alcohol. They used to check all items by hand, but as of the beginning of April, they have new facilities with an x-ray machine like the one at airports. When they scanned my suitcase and saw all the books, they immediately put it aside.
“What are these?” they asked, flipping through them. “Startup books,” I said. “We help young people with business ideas. We are creating a library for them to be able to read and educate themselves.”
The two men looked at me skeptically. We were speaking Arabic and they applauded me for having learned the language so well, but nevertheless, they did not seem sure about the books. As they sifted through them, one man picked this one up:
“Oh no!” my heart sank. The seemingly innocuous business, engineering, and design books I was bringing suddenly did not seem so innocent anymore. What could those undressed body images look like from the perspective of security officials who do not speak English?
They closed the books, looked at each other, and said, “Fine, you can go.” Ouf!
Gazans’ response
When I arrived to the office, the response was as heart-melting as I had expected it to be. Everyone there gathered around immediately, touching the books, looking through them, and telling me – once again – “these are the only copies of these books in Gaza.”
My colleagues were also excited to see the Google swag I brought back for our #40Forward program which is increasing the number of women co-founders in Gaza:
People dropping by Gaza Sky Geeks see the books immediately as they step into our co-working space. Everyone stops, takes in the view, and comes up to peruse the books.
When I rolled the books during the mile-long walk across the Israeli-Gazan border, I ran into a colleague from an NGO. “You should create a flyer and I’ll give it to all nonprofits in Gaza so they can tell their networks about them!” she said. “This is the first time I’ve seen something like this in Gaza!”
Gazans: This is the official announcement. The books are here. Come check them out!
Supporters’ response
The people who contributed the books were just as excited. We made our request one week before the books had to arrive to my house. We made the announcement on a weekday evening. The next day, the first book was already at my door step. (Thank you, Mehdi and Amazon Prime!)
Lynn Le from Portland announced the book drive on her Facebook page. She told everyone in Portland to meet her on a corner to give her their used or new startup-related books. Everyone showed up between 6-7pm and within an hour she had collected nearly 20 books.
People from all over the world – Dubai, New York, the West Bank, California, Jordan – shipped books to my home.
Some of you bought books from our Amazon wish list (The Founder’s Dilemma, Agile Product Management with Scrum, and Startup Communities, to name a few). Others contributed titles they loved and recommended (The Method Method, The Hard Thing About Hard Things, and Startup Boards, for example). Several of you contributed The Lean Startup because we had requested multiple copies. We will share these with a local community group that wants to bring the lean startup methodology to Gaza.
To all of you, we thank you for participating in a small but very meaningful & impactful endeavor to turbocharge Gazan entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs. All of the books we received will be well-read!
A Big Thank You To…
Angie Chang
Faris F Fallouh
Heather Henyon
Jeff Wishnie
Joanne Kubba
Lynn Le & the entire Portland community
Mehdi El H.
Nafez Dakkak
Nedal Mourad
Noor Shawwa
Ruba Borno
Tara Brown
Taylor Valore
* If you would prefer not to have your name listed here, please let us know. We forgot to ask whether donations were intended to be anonymous. Also, if we missed your name, do let us know – some donations came without names!
by staff writer
Iliana Montauk
Gaza Sky Geeks Manager, Mercy Corps Digital Economy Program Director
This week, Brad Feld, Eric Ries, Guy Kawasaki, Clayton Christensen, and countless other startup thought leaders came to Gaza… thanks to you!
As you may have read in my last blog post, Gazans have no access to books about startups. People do not have credit cards and cannot make purchases online so even if they have a tablet, Kindle books are out of the question. Because Gazans have no access to physical copies of books about startups, they treasure the few here. Until two weeks ago, there was only one copy of The Lean Startup in all of Gaza.
Two weeks ago, we asked for your contributions… and we received a veritable outpouring of support. In total, 47 book donations arrived from about 20 different people. They came with thoughtful notes, too. “For my brothers and sisters in Gaza,” read one. And “Read the advice, but do not always follow it,” read another.
Two airplanes and two checkpoints
Getting the books here was an adventure. I was in California for work and to visit family, so I suggested that book donors send their books to my home there. I would bring them back to Palestine in a suitcase.
When I jumped up to Portland for meetings at Mercy Corps‘s headquarters, I got a huge batch of books courtesy of Lynn Le. With no extra suitcase on hand, though, I was not sure how to get the books to San Francisco. I decided to empty my carry on bag, filled it with books, and put all of my clothing in plastic bags instead. Quick and cheap solution!
The flight from San Francisco to Tel Aviv was easier: all 47 books fit easily into an extra suitcase. But as I got off the flight in Tel Aviv and got ready to exit the airport, I got nervous. I had been told previously that the authorities at the airport often check luggage and charge customs tax on new purchases. All of my friends in this region bring back iPhones, Android phones, baby carriers, and other commodities when they fly back to Tel Aviv because these items are all cheaper in the United States than here, but they have sometimes been stopped by customs.
Thankfully, it was 3 a.m. when I landed and the customs officials did not check many of the passengers. I made it through!
The next checkpoint was the one between Israel and Gaza. Every time I enter Gaza, the Gazan government checks my luggage. Prohibited items include alcohol. They used to check all items by hand, but as of the beginning of April, they have new facilities with an x-ray machine like the one at airports. When they scanned my suitcase and saw all the books, they immediately put it aside.
“What are these?” they asked, flipping through them. “Startup books,” I said. “We help young people with business ideas. We are creating a library for them to be able to read and educate themselves.”
The two men looked at me skeptically. We were speaking Arabic and they applauded me for having learned the language so well, but nevertheless, they did not seem sure about the books. As they sifted through them, one man picked this one up:
“Oh no!” my heart sank. The seemingly innocuous business, engineering, and design books I was bringing suddenly did not seem so innocent anymore. What could those undressed body images look like from the perspective of security officials who do not speak English?
They closed the books, looked at each other, and said, “Fine, you can go.” Ouf!
Gazans’ response
When I arrived to the office, the response was as heart-melting as I had expected it to be. Everyone there gathered around immediately, touching the books, looking through them, and telling me – once again – “these are the only copies of these books in Gaza.”
My colleagues were also excited to see the Google swag I brought back for our #40Forward program which is increasing the number of women co-founders in Gaza:
People dropping by Gaza Sky Geeks see the books immediately as they step into our co-working space. Everyone stops, takes in the view, and comes up to peruse the books.
When I rolled the books during the mile-long walk across the Israeli-Gazan border, I ran into a colleague from an NGO. “You should create a flyer and I’ll give it to all nonprofits in Gaza so they can tell their networks about them!” she said. “This is the first time I’ve seen something like this in Gaza!”
Gazans: This is the official announcement. The books are here. Come check them out!
Supporters’ response
The people who contributed the books were just as excited. We made our request one week before the books had to arrive to my house. We made the announcement on a weekday evening. The next day, the first book was already at my door step. (Thank you, Mehdi and Amazon Prime!)
Lynn Le from Portland announced the book drive on her Facebook page. She told everyone in Portland to meet her on a corner to give her their used or new startup-related books. Everyone showed up between 6-7pm and within an hour she had collected nearly 20 books.
People from all over the world – Dubai, New York, the West Bank, California, Jordan – shipped books to my home.
Some of you bought books from our Amazon wish list (The Founder’s Dilemma, Agile Product Management with Scrum, and Startup Communities, to name a few). Others contributed titles they loved and recommended (The Method Method, The Hard Thing About Hard Things, and Startup Boards, for example). Several of you contributed The Lean Startup because we had requested multiple copies. We will share these with a local community group that wants to bring the lean startup methodology to Gaza.
To all of you,
we thank you for participating in a small but very meaningful & impactful endeavor to turbocharge Gazan entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs. All of the books we received will be well-read!
A Big Thank You To…
Angie Chang
Faris F Fallouh
Heather Henyon
Jeff Wishnie
Joanne Kubba
Lynn Le & the entire Portland community
Mehdi El H.
Nafez Dakkak
Nedal Mourad
Noor Shawwa
Ruba Borno
Tara Brown
Taylor Valore
* If you would prefer not to have your name listed here, please let us know. We forgot to ask whether donations were intended to be anonymous. Also, if we missed your name, do let us know – some donations came without names!
by staff writer
Iliana Montauk
Gaza Sky Geeks Manager, Mercy Corps Digital Economy Program Director
