While many young Arabs had their first bitter taste of fighting against restraints of the authority, during the Arab uprisings of 2011, Palestinians and Gazans in particular have proven for decades that not only can they survive despite the blockade and the ongoing wars, but that they can excel at what they do as well. Take Unit One ICT for example.
Unit One ICT stems back to an idea that entrepreneur Saady Lozon and his partner, Ahmed Abu Shaaban had back in 2001.
“The idea was a center for training in IT subjects, management and languages,” said Abu Shaaban.
After nine years from establishing Unit One as a training center, the company is now on the verge of growing from 13 employees to over quadruple its original size, clocking it at 60 employees. But not only is it growing in size, the spirits and morale of the team is similarly growing, too.
"We are working to be like Google," expressed Lozon with confidence. "I hope to make Unit One like Google for the people of Gaza, not only for business but also for entertainment."
“The IT level in Gaza is pretty high, but what obstructs its development is the economic condition the people live in,” believes Abu Shaaban. “IT is not something physical that the siege can rule out; all you need is an internet line, and you'd be clued up on everything new.”
But even though this may be true, the siege has most certainly cut off a lot basic requirements needed for the business.
Among the various obstacles the entrepreneurs face is the constant power cuts in Gaza, in addition to the ban on importing devices and network equipment core to their business which led them to smuggling equipment through the tunnels, a solution that has its own downsides.
“The tunnels and smuggling equipment through them played a major role in the recession of our products because there are great conflicts and discrepancy in prices and obviously the quality,” shared Abu Shaaban.
And even now, with clients overseas across Europe, the United States and the Arab world, Lozon and Abu Shaaban find difficulty in the most rudimentary processes such as bank transfers. "It was difficult at the beginning," said Lozon. "In 2006, when the blockade started, we had to open an account in the West Bank," he said, referring to the other Palestinian territory, which is not subject to the same restrictions.
Yet despite the numerous obstacles, Unit One ICT continues to prove that there always is a way around. "We have managed to knock a hole in the wall of the blockade," said Lozon, adding: “We deliver in time, just as the client wishes."
At first, Unit One was focused on software development and building apps for iPhone and Android, but now there is a larger unit handling data-processing.
"We are trying to regain trust," he said. "We are telling everyone that Gaza can do the job regardless of the obstacles."