Entrepreneurs - Success Stories in Arab Society

An academic researcher in the field of immigration to Europe, Rayda Zoabi was always a woman of ideas.

Her trips to Germany inspired her to seek solutions to the devastating ecological consequences of the fashion industry.

She came up with a groundbreaking idea and founded “Green Dress,” an online store that sells second-hand evening dresses.

Rayda lives in the north of Israel, near Afula. Along with establishing her business, she continues to work as researcher at the Haifa Center for German and European Studies at the University of Haifa.

Mustafa Doli was born an entrepreneur. From childhood he was inspired by his entrepreneurial mother and joined his father for meetings with the accountant.

He took his own entrepreneurial spirit to a surprising field: child development care.

Today, Mustafa runs the “Words and Beads” child development units in Acre and Majdal Shams, employing dozens of Jewish and Arab caregivers and helping thousands of girls and boys every year.

Mustafa lives in Acre, married to Zehaya, a speech therapist. Together they raise their two sons: Jawad and Rawi.

Wajdi Zabet got his first computer at age five, and hasn’t stopped programming since.

After finishing his studies of Software Engineering at the Technion, Wajdi joined Check Point. In 2019, in the middle of a promising hi-tech career, he decided to fulfill a dream and create a start-up with seven friends.

Orca Security, which began in one of the founders’ living rooms, deals with cloud security and is now a company worth $ 1.8 billion.

Wajdi was born and lives in Kfar Manda, with his wife and two children. He wants to inspire young people from Arab society to develop careers in the hi-tech industry and become entrepreneurs.

Wajdi sees this as an opportunity to improve the socio-economic situation of Arab society as well as to fight the violence. “It is possible to dream and to make our dreams come true. We just must not be afraid,” he says.

Afifa and Osama are among the founders of “I’billin in the Heart” – a group of six volunteers, also including Abir Najami, Luna Abu Janima, Alaa Idris, and Jubran Daim – who set themselves a goal: to contribute to their community and make it a better place for all residents.

Afifa says, “What connects us to I’billin is the people, and when the people are connected to the locality and to each other, and feel a sense of belonging, then they maintain the locality and the atmosphere changes for the better.”

The group in its seventh year of activity, leads cooperation between all the associations and organizations active in the locality, creating cultural events, social events, artistic activities, and recently also street libraries they started together with two organizations, which quickly became very popular.

“True leadership is knowing how to build the next generation, ensuring continuity,” Osama says. “It’s not something simple; it involves a lot of time, investment and effort. But it’s worth it,” the two say. “The most exciting thing is to see the joy in people’s eyes and especially the children and the seniors.”

Osama Daim is an engineer by profession, a Technion graduate. “I make a living as an engineer, but for my soul I am active in culture and society.” Osama is married and the father of three.

Afifa Haj Abu Janima says, “I am first and foremost a person who loves life, a wife and mother of two.” Afifa has been a special education teacher for 19 years. In addition, she is an organizational consultant, a doctoral student who researches the subject of land, planning, and construction in Arab society, recently also a netball player, and also owns a men’s clothing store in the community together with her husband.