On July 8, 2026, we hosted a visionary friend live from Gaza, Mohammed Hosni, who talked about rebuilding the Palestinian economy. He has founded an amazing initiative, Bidhra, https://www.bidhra.org/en , which is dedicated to connecting Palestinian entrepreneurs with supporters and diaspora worldwide. 

Meeting slides:

Agenda:

Rebuilding the Palestinian economy by connecting Palestinian project owners with the global diaspora and ethical supporters who can provide capital, knowledge, and networks.

Core problem statement:

The Palestinian economy is collapsing, and existing aid models cannot rebuild it. Bidhra exists because of four interlocking problems:

Problem 1: Economic collapse at historic scale

The Palestinian economy has contracted 84% cumulatively since the war. Gaza needs $71 billion for recovery. The West Bank is economically besieged. There are 3.5 million Palestinians in the territories plus 7 million in the diaspora who need a parallel economic system to the one that’s strangling them.

Problem 2: Forced displacement and diaspora disconnection

War has pushed Palestinians out of Palestine. Many are rebuilding their lives elsewhere, in Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Europe, and North America, while their connection to home weakens. Meanwhile, Palestinians who stayed have no infrastructure to receive support from those who left. The diaspora wants to help, the homeland needs help, and no bridge exists.

Problem 3: The aid dependency trap

Over 80% of Gaza’s population now depends on humanitarian assistance. Aid is necessary but creates structural dependency. When aid stops or shrinks, there is no underlying economy to fall back on. Aid feeds, but it doesn’t build. Every dollar of food aid equals a dollar consumed. A dollar invested in a small business creates $4-7 in local economic activity through employment, supplier purchases, and consumer spending. The current system has no multiplier.

Problem 4: The unemployment catastrophe

Gaza unemployment is around 78%. West Bank unemployment is around 32% and rising. Hundreds of thousands of skilled Palestinians have nothing to do: engineers, teachers, designers, builders, farmers, traders. This is an economic asset being wasted on a catastrophic scale. A generation is losing its skills, its agency, and its hope while sitting idle.

4) Links

– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammedhosni-ux/

– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moh.share/

– Bidhra: https://www.bidhra.org/en 

TO BE RECORDED

Housekeeping:

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