Contributor: Will Weathersby

Palestinian youth gathered in December to incubate web development ideas — and business opportunities — at a Startup Weekend in Gaza. Photo: Will Weathersby/Mercy Corps

Gaza isn’t necessarily the first place you think of for a Startup Weekend. These 54-hour events, started by a Seattle nonprofit, bring together web developers, designers, marketers, product managers and aspiring entrepreneurs to share ideas, form teams, build products and launch tech startups.

It’s a place few people ever get to visit, let alone a group of experts from Google and international business professionals from Mercy Corps. But the political limbo that has led to a virtual blockade of the area has inspired the many youth here to cultivate their talents around information and communication technology (ICT), making it a fertile place for innovation.

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