Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Do I really need to comment?

FY 2005 Program: Support Peace Processes ($1,500,000 DA; and $5,000,000 ESF to be
notified separately):

The U.S.-Israel Cooperative Development Research (CDR) Program is a USAID-managed, peer reviewed competitive grants program that funds collaborative research involving scientists from Israel and the United States working with counterparts in developing countries. Grants are selected based upon technical merit and relevance to the needs of the developing countries.
About 60 CDR projects are presently active. The Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC)
Program is a USAID-managed, competitive research grants program specifically focused on
promoting technical cooperation between Arab and Israeli scientists, students, and communities
on topics relevant to development in the Middle East. MERC’s external peer-review panels
provide expert technical advice to a USAID/Department of State selection committee. Presently, 35 MERC projects are active, involving scientists and institutions in Jordan, Egypt, West Bank/Gaza, Morocco, Tunisia, and Lebanon. U.S. scientists may also participate in a MERC grant, but all MERC projects must demonstrate significant levels of direct Arab-Israeli
cooperation.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is your point???

Rami Zurayk said...

it is illegal for Lebanese to work on projects involving any "level of direct Arab-Israeli cooperation". This program is in breach of Lebanese law.

Anonymous said...

If this program is in breach of Lebanese Law, then the Lebanese government is responsible to protect its own laws, should sue MERC, and not allow any Lebanese to partake in these projects. Nevertheless, some of these projects are “active in Lebanon”…so blame the Lebanese.