A New Wind Blowing for Peace

September 20, 2010

Brothers Engineering Group was founded by Dr. Mohammed Salem, a pharmacist, businessman and social entrepreneur with Engineers without Borders. Salem, the company's CEO, employs 15 people in Bethlehem and supplies wind turbines and solar solutions to the West Bank region. “Business collaboration in the area of wind energy is something which will be for the benefit of everyone. It will serve as a bridge of peace for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict,” Salem declares.

Says Yanir Avital, the Israeli company's founder, “We visited their company in Bethlehem and felt they could be a good partner. We could use [Salem's] connections, and with our connections, we could help their company go one or two steps ahead…In Israel, we have very few places that can use this kind of energy.”

In the West Bank, the Brothers Group doesn't import any parts, but builds everything from scratch with the help of 10 engineers and five laborers. Israel Wind Energy is already building wind turbine solutions slated for imminent export to Europe and Russia. However, [in Israel] there is only one location in the Golan Heights which is ideal for wind, and the next suitable place is in the West Bank. Avital believes that cooperating with the Brothers Group could help the Israeli company to expand into regions where there is more wind.

Yoram Suissa of Israel Wind Power says, “We will be a pipeline for our Palestinian friends and colleagues for their products to be marketed both in Israel and abroad. We see this joint business venture as a business enterprise which connects these two communities in a blessed way, setting aside the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We believe that this is an example of the ability of ordinary people to bridge gaps between our communities, especially during these stormy days.”

Source: Excerpts of an article By Karin Kloosterman, www.israel 21c.org