Many thanks to Bill Boerum for putting together the ZOOM presentation given by His Excellency Ambassador (Ret.) Abderahman Salaheldin, who served as the Egyptian Ambassador to the U.S. from 2004 through 2010. SSCA members may recall that Ambassador Salaheldin was instrumental in helping to set up the City of Sonoma – Aswan (Egypt) Sister City relationship back in 2008. The Ambassador’s 2-hour talk on Friday reached a world-wide audience of up to 49 participants, with at least six members of SSCA in attendance, myself included. I have to say it was quite refreshing to see so many people seeking information and opinions about the political happenings in the Middle East.
Ambassador Salaheldin spoke about four main topics: 1) the state of Egyptian-Turkish relations; 2) the potential impact of Ethiopia’s project to dam the Upper Nile (aka Blue Nile); 3) the impact of the recent announcement that the UAE and Israel have agreed to normalize relations, and 4) the dangers of what the Ambassador calls “political Islam.” He also conducted a lively Q & A with participants.
You can view the presentation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl7eXxskjXw&t=2692s (Many thanks to Bill Boerum for making this available.)
If you have questions about the presentation, please contact Bill Boerum at bill@vom.com.
{L to R): Ambassador Salaheldin and Bill Boerum at an event in 2008
