Five graduate students come up with a plan for conflict resolution and sustainable fishing in Gaza.
A creative team of five graduate students currently studying at Tel Aviv University‘s Sofaer International MBA and Business Management and Conflict Resolution programs is, understandably, concerned with resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Which is why they formed Nets of Peace – a fish farming project to bring foreign investments to Gaza, increase economic opportunities for Palestinians, decrease the need for violence, and contribute to more sustainable fishing practices in the area.
This ambitious team recently presented the Nets of Peace business idea at the SPIRIT Conference at the UN Headquarters in New York, and they obviously mean business. See above video, and read below for more.
In the team’s own words:
“Nets of Peace aspires to initiate a feasible program that will ignite a process of change in the area. Understanding that the ancient conflict at hand cannot be resolved overnight, we wish to identify and address the prevailing factors impacting the current state of mistrust, frustration and grief among the two people in this small land. Cultivating a determined approach with a youthful and innovative spirit, Nets of Peace strives to bring foreign investment and operations to the Palestinian territory.
We believe that only by increasing the quality of life for Palestinians through economic growth and financial development can the circumstances change and the circle of violence be broken. Nets of Peace aims to act in the entrepreneurial sphere, knowing that business and responsible management are crucial for providing opportunities and hope to the Palestinian people and the entire region.”
The Gaza Fish Farm Project, which is what is actually being proposed by Nets of Peace, hopes to generate change by addressing: unemployment in Gaza, marine culture in Gaza, and the global need for fish.
Beyond the political effects of this project, there would be an obvious environmental benefit to the creation of fisheries that would eliminate the need to fish straight out of the Mediterranean Sea.
Commercial fishing often threatens natural fish populations, depleting or exploiting resources at a faster pace than the fish can naturally regenerate. Appropriately run fisheries are a sustainable alternative.
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Ed, I think someone new is in the air. There is a generation of people now who would rather work to make the world a little bit better than when they found it, rather than making loads of money. This project will be open source, meaning that it’s open for expansion from people around the world, even you if you would like to push it along.
Nets of Peace – what a totally fantastic idea! Congratulations to the students who conceived a program that creates income and self-respect for people who would certainly feel disempowered. It takes special people to devote their time and efforts, building a plan to help others, when there is no possibility of any material reward to themselves. Seems to me that this is an attitude too rare in the troubled Middle East, not to mention our world.