The EuroMeSCo network grants Pal-Think full membership

Barcelona – Pal-Think for Strategic Studies has become member number 96 in the group of the network of Mediterranean research institutions known as “EuroMeSCo”, a network whose membership includes research and think-tank centres from 35 countries overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, beginning with Croatia and ending with the Arab Maghreb.

The “EuroMeSCo” organisation aims to strengthen bilateral and multilateral regional cooperation among the Mediterranean countries in the fields of human development, with a focus on the issues of the environment, water and energy. The granting of full membership to the Pal-Think for Strategic Studies institution came during the annual meeting of the general assembly of the EuroMeSCo network, held in Barcelona this week with wide participation from the full-member institutions and from institutions still holding “observer” status.

Pal-Think for Strategic Studies is a Palestinian research institution founded in Gaza in March 2007, which aims to promote systematic reflection and rigorous scientific research on issues concerning the present and future of the Palestinian people. The accreditation of Pal-Think for Strategic Studies as a full member on an equal footing with long-established European and Arab institutions such as the Al-Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies expresses the importance of the role Pal-Think for Strategic Studies plays in enriching reflection, dialogue and research in Palestinian society.

In parallel with the meeting of the general assembly of the EuroMeSCo network, the Union for the Mediterranean and the European Institute of the Mediterranean organised a conference entitled “Towards an equal partnership between the two shores of the Mediterranean”, which witnessed wide participation by representatives of the Arab governments in Spain as well as representatives of dozens of research institutions in Europe and the Mediterranean countries.

For his part, Mr Omar Shaban, director of Pal-Think for Strategic Studies, called in his address to the conference on the countries of Europe to resume their position of pressure to lift the unjust siege on the Gaza Strip, and to activate their political role and not content themselves with financial support for the Palestinian people despite its importance. Omar Shaban also called for the swift completion of the water-desalination plant in the Gaza Strip announced by the former French President Sarkozy, in order to confront the tragic situation of drinking water in the Gaza Strip.