The surprising duo behind the Hamas missile map

By Guest Column Israel21c —— Bio and Archives July 23, 2014

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A new computer tool showing the trajectory of Hamas rockets fired at Israel from Gaza is not only getting traction on social media, but constitutes an example of Jewish-Arab public diplomacy coexistence in action.

The brainchild of 18-year-old Samuel Lespes Cardillo and 22-year-old Farid el-Nasire, the program – “Israel Under Attack” – is a map of incoming red alerts, showing both their target in Israel and their point of origin. Cardillo is a Jew from Belgium who immigrated to Israel six months ago. El-Nasire is a pro-Israel Muslim from the Netherlands, whose family is originally from Morocco. The two met on Facebook, in a group called Innovation Israel, a mere week before launching the tool on the morning of July 20. Realizing through chats that they shared a similar idea for faster and more precise Red Alerts, they collaborated via Skype and phone between Hoorn and Herzliya, spending what Cardillo described to ISRAEL21c as “many white nights” to get the tool ready and up and running as quickly as possible for the safety of the Israeli public. More...