here's a lot of bridge-building going on here," says Yoel Ben-Avraham. "We're not just dodging bullets." As the director of @LearnSkills.com, a small Israeli Web-based company that offers courses in Internet and computer literacy, Yoel is one of countless people worldwide forging new careers in cyberspace. But the Internet does more than just provide a means of connecting with the world -- it also helps Yoel and his staff avoid the ongoing conflict."We all live in West Bank communities where rocks are thrown daily, Molotov cocktails weekly," says assistant webmaster Ncoom Gilbar. "By communicating through the Net instead of in person, I am seriously expanding my chances of surviving this very rough period of undeclared war."
Yoel, however, would rather stress other advantages of the Internet. "What we want to do, as 'haves,'" he says, "is spread the benefits of technology to the 'have-nots' especially in third world countries." He says Israel is an ideal base, since the cost of living is low and the level of technical literacy is high. Most important, Israel is a nation of immigrants who can speak the languages of the world with native fluency.
And while difficulties in living harmoniously with their Arab neighbors do exist, the @LearnSkills.com approach to high-tech higher education is the focus of a conference in the United Arab Emirates -- a land where Jews are seldom welcome.
