Editing Arab–Israeli peace projects (section)

===SESAME===

The '''Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East''' (SESAME) is an independent [[laboratory]] located in Allan in the [[Balqa Governorate|Balqa]] [[Governorates of Jordan|governorate]] of [[Jordan]], created under the auspices of [[UNESCO]] on 30 May 2002.

Aimed at promoting peace between Middle Eastern countries, Jordan was chosen as the location for the laboratory, as it was then the only country that maintained diplomatic relations with all the other founding members; [[Bahrain]], [[Cyprus]], [[Egypt]], [[Iran]], [[Israel]], [[Pakistan]], the [[Palestinian Authority]], and [[Turkey]]. The project was launched in 1999 and the ground breaking ceremony was held on 6 January 2003. Construction work began the following July, with a scheduled completion date of 2015.<ref name=bbcshukman>{{cite web|last=Shukman|first=David|title=Sesame synchrotron is a flash of unity in Middle East|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20447422|work=News: Science and environment|publisher=BBC|date=26 November 2012}}</ref> However financial and technical infrastructural obstacles forced the project to be delayed. The laboratory was inaugurated on 16 May 2017 under the patronage and presence of [[Abdullah II of Jordan|King Abdullah II]].<ref name="tibn">{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/jordan-science-research-centre-iran-israel-palestinian-scientists-together-amman-synchrotron-light-a7738786.html|title= Landmark Jordanian science centre hopes to bring scientists from Iran, Israel and Palestinians together|access-date=16 May 2017|date=16 May 2017|work=The Independent}}</ref>

The project cost around $90 million, with $5 million donated each by Jordan, Israel, Turkey, Iran and the European Union. The rest was donated by CERN from existing equipment. Jordan became the greatest contributor to the project by donating land and building construction costs, and by pledging to build a $7 million solar power plant, which will make SESAME the first accelerator in the world to be powered by renewable energy.<ref name="wc"/> The annual operational cost of $6 million are pledged by the members according to the size of their economies.<ref name="wc">{{cite web|url=https://www.worldcrunch.com/tech-science/sesame-a-new-accelerator-of-science-and-middle-east-peace|title=SESAME: A New Accelerator Of Science And Middle East Peace|access-date=8 May 2017|date=3 March 2017|work=World Crunch}}</ref>