At the invitation of Philippe Etienne, Ambassador of France to the United States, a delegation from Project Aladdin composed of Chair Leah Pisar, Vice-President Eric de Rothschild and Executive Director Abe Radkin met with UAE Ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al-Otaiba; Bahrain’s Ambassador to Washington, Abdullah bin Rashed Al Khalifa and Israeli Ambassador to Washington, Michael Herzog, to discuss expansion of civil society partnerships in the Middle East.
During the French presidency of the European Union, French Ambassador Philippe Etienne invited several of his fellow ambassadors to a meeting in Washington with a delegation from Project Aladdin to discuss civil society partnerships in the Middle East and North Africa.
Leah Pisar, Chair of Project Aladdin; Vice-President Eric de Rothschild and Executive Director Abe Radkin took part in the meeting with Ambassador Etienne, UAE Ambassador Yousef Al-Otaiba; Bahraini Ambassador Abdullah bin Rashed Al Khalifa and Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog. The ambassadors unanimously expressed support for the work of Project Aladdin, and its plans to encourage greater partnerships among civil society organizations and institutions in Israel, UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and other nations in the Middle East and North Africa.
These include partnerships among universities that could lead to a MENA version of the hugely successful Erasmus program in Europe, cooperation among museums and sports clubs, and joint projects to address the negative impact of climate change in the region.
The ambassadors also expressed their readiness to engage with Project Aladdin USA in organizing meetings and conferences in Washington and elsewhere in the United States to raise awareness of these issues among the American public.