DUBAI: An advanced research center to be shared by scientists from countries with politically tense relations is set to open in Jordan today.
The facility is called Sesame — Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East – and will be used by researchers from across the region, including Iranians, Israelis and Palestinians.
The facility’s name is a play on the famous phrase “Open Sesame” and implies the beginning of a new era of collaborative scientific research, the BBC reported Tuesday.
The vast white building is home to a synchrotron, a particle accelerator that acts as a powerful microscope by generating intense beams of light
There are about 60 synchrotrons in the world but this will be the first in the Middle East.
Located 35 kilometers north of the capital Amman, the facility is geared toward establishing advanced science in the region, according to Egyptian Dr. Gihan Kamel.
“We are not building a paradise, it’s not an ideal place… But we are creating something, we are giving hope for other people for other generations,” she told the BBC.
The opening ceremony is being attended by Jordanian, Cypriot, Egyptian, Iranian, Pakistani, Palestinian and Turkish delegations and by the heads of UNESCO, CERN and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
However, an Israeli Cabinet minister called off the long-planned visit to attend the ceremony following a spat between the countries over a deadly shooting in Jerusalem.
Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis said he was skipping the because of Jordan’s reaction to the killing of a Jordanian who stabbed an Israeli police officer.
