"EDUCATION" PRESS RELEASES

Queen Noor meets with AMIDEAST President and Country Director.

Wednesday 25 February 1998

Her Majesty Queen Noor met Wednesday with President of AMIDEAST (American-Mideast Educational and Training Services) Ambassador William Rugh and AMIDEAST Country Director Mrs. Janine Al-Tal at Bab Al Salam. They discussed AMIDEAST’s "Arab Heritage Fund", which was established to improve Americans’ understanding of the Arab world and its people by substantially expanding the distribution of educational materials to thousands of schools all across the United States. This program, made possible by the Fund, will put accurate and balanced educational materials into the hands of tens of thousands of American teachers. They will then be able to introduce primary and secondary students to the richness of Arab history and culture, the influence of Arab and Islamic civilization on the Western world, and Islam’s shared heritage with Judaism and Christianity.

According to Mrs. Janine Al-Tal, AMIDEAST, with resources from the Fund, will select "more high quality educational resources about the Arab world, review them for suitability for use in American schools, and dramatically expand our ability to bring them to the attention of teachers and students across America. The Fund will also support the development of new materials such as AMIDEAST’s forthcoming educational video, ‘The Arab World and Its People.’" Mrs. Al-Tal added that AMIDEAST has a five-year plan under the Arab Heritage Fund to increase the reach of the program into American schools and estimates that it will have an impact on more than 2.6 million American students.

AMIDEAST, which was founded in 1951, is a private, nonprofit organization promoting cooperation and understanding between Americans and the people of the Middle East and North Africa through education, information and development assistance programs. Headquartered in Washington D.C., it has a network of offices in Jordan, Egypt, the West Bank / Gaza Strip, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Tunis. Its services include educational advising and testing, training programs, technical assistance, English-language programs and public outreach services.