AMIDEAST advises that the following resources are available to assist Syrian students and scholars:

In a Nov. 16, 2012, speech, AMIDEAST President and CEO Theodore H. Kattouf underscored the vital role of education in ensuring a successful outcome of the revolutions in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa. Addressing the joint annual benefit of the National Arab American Medical Association (NAAMA) and Egyptians Abroad in Development (EAD) in Chicago, he said, “A bright future for the region is one in which its many young men and women are able to improve their life circumstances and realize their dreams of political and social inclusion. The region must create many more jobs, but it must also prepare youth to have English language, IT, and critical thinking skills required in a 21st century global economy that is increasingly knowledge-based and high tech.”

AMIDEAST is pleased to be the managing partner of the new Rhamna Skills training center in Benguerir, Morocco. Inaugurated by King Mohammed VI on Nov. 12, 2012, the youth center offers training in soft skills and entrepreneurship along with career coaching and guidance in order to assist youth in their efforts to enter the job market. It is the first of several youth training centers that Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP), Morocco's national phosphates company, is setting up as part of its OCP Skills initiative, which seeks to address the country's dual challenge of reducing its high youth unemployment rate and increasing the pool of domestic talent for the country's growth industries to tap.

AMIDEAST’s staff in Muscat were excited to begin 2013 by moving into a large, modern facility in the city’s Airport Heights/Ghala section. The new headquarters for AMIDEAST’s operations in Oman, which opened in January 2013, features an EducationUSA library, a Cisco Entrepreneur Institute, a variety of classrooms and meeting spaces, a student lounge, and two computer labs, including one certified by U.S. testing company ETS for administration of the Internet-based TOEFL® exam.  It also offers ample space for visitor parking.

By Cathy Mentzer

Wilson College holds the distinction of being one of only eight women’s colleges in the United States to enroll students as part of the NeXXt Scholars Initiative in its inaugural year. Ghada Tafesh, of the city of Gaza in the Palestinian Territories, is one of 12 international students to participate in the program, which encourages young women from countries with predominantly Muslim populations to obtain a world-class STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) undergraduate education at one of 38 U.S. women’s colleges.

AMIDEAST strongly condemns the offensive film that has inflamed passions across the Middle East and abhors, as do the vast majority of Americans, the hateful intentions behind it. Such actions must not be allowed to undermine the bonds of friendship that exist between Americans and the peoples of the Middle East. AMIDEAST likewise strongly condemns the senseless violence that caused the deaths this week of four American diplomats in Libya, who were there to assist the Libyan people rebuild their country. Peaceful demonstrations are a right, but there is no justification for violence.

AMIDEAST mourns the loss of Dr. Fahim Qubain, who passed away in April at the age of 88. Qubain will be long remembered as the founder of the Hope Fund, an organization that in one decade has made a made a life-changing difference for nearly 70 young Palestinian men and women from refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza.

 AMIDEAST was saddened by the death of Bassel Al Shahade, a student in the Fulbright Foreign Student Program who was pursuing a master of fine arts degree in film at Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. Shahade, from Damascus, Syria, was a promising young filmmaker and civic activist who had already used his filmmaking talent before joining the Fulbright program to draw attention to the problems facing women in his country and to the impact of drought on communities in northern Syria. As fighting intensified in Syria, Shahade could not ignore the deterioration of conditions and decided to return. He was killed May 28 in the embattled city of Homs, where he had travelled to train activist videographers and to work on a film of his own about the historic events underway in his country.

New partnerships are enabling AMIDEAST to expand entrepreneurship training in Oman, one of several countries where AMIDEAST has established Cisco Entrepreneur Institutes to support the region’s drive to develop its entrepreneurial potential, create jobs, and promote sustainable economic growth.

College fairs are a regular feature on AMIDEAST/Egypt’s fall calendar, but it was especially important to hold them this year in the aftermath of the Arab Spring and the January 25th Revolution. The fairs underscore the importance of continuing to provide the many educational and training services that Egyptians seek as they consider the next steps in their academic careers.