UNITY
TECHNOLOGY
How Jewish and Israeli innovation are bringing
people together I BY ILAN PRESKOVSKY
PRETTY MUCH WITHOUT FAIL, EVERY TIME THE
BDS movement flares up with its usual anti-Israel boycotts, a variation of the same
email is bound to show up at least a half
dozen times in your inbox: a long, long list
of all of the many Israeli and/or Jewish inventions that the group would have to do
without if it was truly serious about living
up to its name. These include some fairly
fundamental inventions in everything
from computing to medical technologies
to agriculture. Aside for the frankly quite
obvious illustration of just how deeply
hypocritical the movement and its goals
are, these emails also reveal a perhaps
slightly less obvious truth – or, more precisely, a less obvious truth to anyone too
wilfully blind to see it.
For all that Israel’s existence – and, indeed, the history of the Jewish people in
general – has been defined by continuous
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ISSUE 86
existential threats and has become (in)famous for its intimidating and highly advanced military presence as a result, its
primary contributions to the world are
not, by and large, military in nature. For
every Uzi or Iron Dome, Israel has been
responsible for either the invention or
the refinement of dozens of technological
miracles that not only improve the life of
millions, but are, either by design or by
accident, forces for unity and peace in
the world.
Like any