Experts help divided Cyprus figure out economics of peace

December 31, 2015

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A peace accord cobbling Cyprus back together again after over four decades of ethnic division is possible in 2016 and will bring opportunity and economic growth, officials say. But sorting out the financial side of reunification will be a huge task.

The challenges of melding the economies of an internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south that enjoys European Union membership and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north that relies heavily on Turkey's financial support are coming into sharp relief as the rival leaders press on with tough negotiations into the new year.

That's why experts from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have been recruited to help Nicos Anastasiades, the island's Greek Cypriot president, and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci to navigate the economic labyrinth of a hoped-for reunification deal that both men say they want to clinch in 2016.

Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup aiming to unite the island with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence and continues to maintain around 35,000 troops in the north.

The experts this month made the first of many trips to Cyprus to sort out the mechanics of a unified economy before a peace deal is agreed. The benefits are clear: economic growth and rising wealth is needed to make a new federation work and help sell the deal to a long-divided and skeptical people.

"If the settlement talks were conducted in a purely political fashion, without regard to the ensuing economic implications of decisions made, or if these were relegated to a later stage, significant opportunities would be lost for kick-starting the economy of a post-settlement Cyprus," the United Nations spokesperson's office told The Associated Press. The person spoke only on condition of anonymity in line with department rules.

The experts will focus on issues including post-settlement public finances in a federated Cyprus, keeping banks stable, taxation and switching the north's currency to the euro and applying EU law there.

"It's very symbolic that the IMF is involved for the first time," said East Mediterranean University Provost Ahmet Sozen. But as is often with Cyprus peace talks, optimism is tempered by reality. A key challenge to a pact's political and economic success is dealing with private property lost during the conflict. In particular, experts need to figure out the cost of compensating property owners and where that money will come from.

"Well managed, a solution should be able to pay for itself in the long perspective, due to a higher growth rate, but it will still need external support up front in order to be properly implemented," the UN spokesperson said.

Most property in the north belongs to Greek Cypriots who fled in the face of advancing Turkish troops. But Turkish Cypriots insist any peace accord should ensure that they hold on to the majority of property in their future administrative zone and remain the majority in population as well.

Sozen said Turkish Cypriots take the issue very seriously because it's tied to their sense of security and that Akinci, the Turkish Cypriot leader, is "very firm on this." Turkish Cypriots see doling out cash for property as the primary way of dealing with the issue, as it would avoid displacing a large number of Turkish Cypriots who have since moved in.

There is no figure on how much this will cost, but the European Union and the U.S. and other countries have offered financial support, according to the U.N. Many Greek Cypriots see the 'compensation-first' tack as curtailing their property rights and coming in direct conflict with EU principles that both sides say should be the bedrock of any agreement.

Parliamentary Speaker Yiannakis Omirou blasted Turkish Cypriot positions as "legalizing the invasion's outcome." In a terse statement, Cypriot government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said Akinci's remarks on the issue show that "there's plenty of work yet to be done."

Showdown brews as Venezuela opposition takes over congress

January 05, 2016

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Forget the ceremonial gavel passing and group photos. Venezuela's new congress, now dominated by opponents of the socialist administration, is being sworn in Tuesday amid dueling street demonstrations, mutual accusations of subverting democracy and a looming potential for violence.

With the seating of the newly elected National Assembly, it will be the first time in 17 years that opponents of the socialist revolution begun by the late President Hugo Chavez will control any institution in the South American country.

Incoming opposition lawmakers are promising to use their new muscle to make sweeping changes, while the socialist party of current President Nicolas Maduro has been equally adamant that the legislature will not be allowed to roll back Chavez's revolution.

The Supreme Court last week barred three opposition lawmakers from taking their seats, responding to a challenge by supporters of the socialists who accuse the opposition of stealing the Dec. 6 legislative election. That ruling could snatch away the opposition's two-thirds majority, which it will need to make any major move, such as firing top officials or rewriting the constitution.

On Monday, the incoming congress president, Henry Ramos, reiterated his promise to swear in all lawmakers and said Maduro should consider resigning to save Venezuela from a political crisis, echoing a call hard-liners made in 2014 when they launched a street protest movement that resulted in dozens of deaths.

"The people put their trust in us, and we can't just go home and knit booties to avoid conflict," the 72-year-old Ramos told reporters. "We must wield our power." Such acerbic statements are a trademark of Ramos, a wily, pre-Chavez era politician whose promotion to the top spot in congress over a fresher face has exposed internal rifts that will dog the opposition.

The coalition's more moderate wing has lambasted the hard-liners' strategy of trying to force Maduro from office and wants to take pragmatic steps to wrench the oil-dependent economy out of a tailspin marked by triple-digit inflation and the world's deepest recession.

The factions have agreed on a basic agenda that includes granting amnesty to dozens of jailed leaders that human rights groups consider political prisoners, pushing for the release of central bank data and giving Maduro a six-month deadline to fall in line with the opposition's economic program.

Incoming lawmakers are also promising to use the National Assembly as a tool for accountability, holding investigative hearings and commissioning audits of government agencies. Jennifer McCoy, a longtime observer of elections in Venezuela for the pro-democracy group founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, said the coming weeks will tell whether the government and opposition can put aside their mutual bloodthirst.

"This is the moment when both sides need to determine how to move forward: whether they are going to work together or engage in a battle royal," said McCoy, who is now director of the Global Studies Institute at Georgia State University

The socialists began fighting the new congress almost as soon as it was voted in. Outgoing lawmakers appointed new Supreme Court judges and changed the ownership of the National Assembly's TV station. Maduro on Monday issued decrees limiting congress' power over the central bank.

In Washington, the U.S. State Department said Monday that it was concerned by the Maduro government's attempts to interfere with the new congress, drawing a sharp rebuke from Venezuela's president. The opposition planned a march to the National Assembly building Tuesday morning. The downtown district in the shadow of the presidential palace rarely sees opposition rallies and is newly covered with pro-government graffiti.

Maduro was conciliatory in a national television address Monday, saying he had instructed the military to guarantee the opposition access to the neoclassical National Assembly building downtown so it can be seated peacefully.

But pro-government militias, dubbed by Chavez as "the armed wing of the revolution," called on their supporters to stage a counter protest, raising the threat of clashes. "The revolution must be defended in the streets," read one pro-government call circulated Monday. "A bourgeoisie congress will never do anything but legislate the slavery of the people."

Associated Press writer Joshua Goodman in Bogota contributed to this report.

Rwandan president announces he will seek 3rd term

January 01, 2016

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Rwandan President Paul Kagame declared Friday he will run for a third term in office after his second seven-year term expires in 2017, a move opposed by the U.S., a key ally.

The announcement in his end-of-year message follows last month's constitutional referendum in which 98 percent of Rwandans voted to approve a revised Constitution to allow Kagame to extend his tenure in office.

"You requested me to lead the country again after 2017. Given the importance and consideration you attach to this, I can only accept," Kagame said Kagame became president in 2000 after being Rwanda's de facto leader since the end of the country's genocide in 1994. He is credited with stabilizing the country and promoting economic growth after the mass killings, but critics say he is an authoritarian ruler who does not tolerate opposition and he is accused of human rights abuses.

Rwanda's political opposition criticized the referendum as undemocratic and the U.S., a key Rwandan ally, has opposed Kagame's bid to stay in power. Appearing to address that, Kagame said "even misguided or deliberately harmful criticism can be the start of a conversation ... what is important is that we respect each other."

Other leaders in East and Central Africa have prolonged their rule. In 2005, Ugandan lawmakers changed their Constitution, allowing President Yoweri Museveni to seek re-election in 2006 and 2011. He is running again in 2016.

Burundi has political violence that started in April when President Pierre Nkurunziza ran for and won a third term that many oppose. There have also been protests in Congo over efforts by President Joseph Kabila, who has been in power for 15 years, to prolong his time in office.

Top Gun: Why Nothing Comes Close to Russia's Vulkan Missile

Moscow (Sputnik)
Jan 06, 2016

It wasn't until the early 1970 that western arms makers finally realized the advantages offered by cruise missiles. The Americans developed the Harpoon anti-ship missile, the French followed up with the Exocet and 1981 saw the entry of America's famous Tomahawk cruise missile.

Not to be outdone, the Soviet Union focused on the development of a missile that would be stealthier and deadlier than its foreign analogues. Development of the P-1000 Vulkan long-range anti-ship missile began in 1979 and less than a decade later it entered active service with the Soviet Navy.

Intended as the replacement for Bazalt missiles, introduced in the early 1970s, the Vulkan features improved supersonic speed of Mach 2.8, an estimated range of 700 kilometers and may be equipped with a 350-kiloton nuclear warhead. The purpose of this dreadful missile system is to allow Russian submarines and missile cruisers to engage aircraft carrier strike groups from safe ranges.

Just like its predecessor, the Vulkan covers much of the distance to its target at a high altitude and swoops down to just over 10 meters during the final stage of the flight which makes it virtually invisible to enemy radar.

Boasting a cruising speed of over 600 meters a second and in excess of 1,000 meters when nearing the target, the Vulkan remains steps ahead of the subsonic Harpoons and Tomahawks. Its 500 kg warhead carries enough punch to severely damage a destroyer, a cruiser or even an aircraft carrier.

The guidance system combines midcourse autopilot, terminal radar seeker, digital computer and improved performance against electronic countermeasures with the ability to select a target in the terminal phase of the flight. Experts say that even though the Vulkan missile came along in the late 1980s, it still remains a top gun no one has yet been able to beat.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Top_Gun_Why_Nothing_Comes_Close_to_Russias_Vulkan_Missile_999.html.

Iranian protesters damage Saudi embassy in Tehran

January 03, 2016

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Protesters in Iran, angered by the execution by Saudi Arabia of a prominent Shiite cleric, broke into the Saudi embassy in Tehran early Sunday, setting fires and throwing papers from the roof, Iranian media reported.

The semiofficial ISNA news agency said the country's top police official, Gen. Hossein Sajedinia, rushed to the scene and police worked to disperse the crowd outraged by the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Shiite leaders in Iran and elsewhere across the Middle East swiftly condemned Riyadh and warned of a sectarian backlash.

Saudi Arabia's execution Saturday of 47 prisoners, which also included al-Qaida detainees, threatened to further inflame Sunni-Shiite tensions in a regional struggle playing out between the Sunni kingdom and its foe Iran, a predominantly Shiite nation.

While Saudi Arabia insisted the executions were part of a justified war on terrorism, Iranian politicians warned that the Saudi monarchy would pay a heavy price for the death of al-Nimr. The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Saudi envoy in Tehran to protest, while the Saudi Foreign Ministry later said it had summoned Iran's envoy to the kingdom to protest the critical Iranian reaction to the sheikh's execution, saying it represented "blatant interference" in its internal affairs.

In Tehran, the crowd gathered outside the Saudi embassy and chanted anti-Saudi slogans. Some protesters threw stones and Molotov cocktails at the embassy, setting off a fire in part of the building, Sajedinia told the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

"Some of them entered the embassy. Currently, individuals who entered the embassy have been transferred out (of the building). However, a large crowd is still there in front of the embassy," Sajedinia told ISNA early Sunday.

Some of the protesters broke into the embassy and threw papers off the roof, and police worked to disperse the crowd, Sajedinia told ISNA. He later told Tasnim that police had removed the protesters from the building and arrested some of them. He said the situation outside the embassy "had been defused."

Al-Nimr's execution promises to open a rancorous new chapter in the ongoing Sunni-Shiite power struggle playing out across the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia and Iran as the primary antagonists. The two regional powers already back opposing sides in civil wars in Yemen and in Syria. Saudi Arabia was also a vocal critic of the recent Iranian agreement with world powers that ends international economic sanctions in exchange for limits on the Iranian nuclear program.

The cleric's execution could also complicate Saudi Arabia's relationship with the Shiite-led government in Iraq. The Saudi embassy in Baghdad reopened for the first time in nearly 25 years on Friday. Already on Saturday there were public calls for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to shut the embassy down again.

Al-Abadi tweeted Saturday night that he was "shocked and saddened" by al-Nimr's execution, adding that, "peaceful opposition is a fundamental right. Repression does not last." Hundreds of al-Nimr's supporters also protested in his hometown of al-Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia, in neighboring Bahrain where police fired tear gas and bird shot, and as far away as northern India.

The sheikh's brother, Mohammed al-Nimr, said in a telephone interview that Saudi authorities told the family they had already buried the body, but didn't tell them at which cemetery. The family had hoped to bury his body in his hometown. His funeral would likely have attracted thousands of supporters, including large numbers of protesters. Instead the family planned to hold prayers and accept condolences at the mosque in a village near al-Qatif, where the sheikh used to pray.

A spokesman said in a statement that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was "deeply dismayed" over the Saudi Arabia executions, including that of Al-Nimr. Germany's Foreign Ministry said the cleric's execution "strengthens our existing concerns about the growing tensions and the deepening rifts in the region."

State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement that the U.S. is "particularly concerned" that al-Nimr's execution risked "exacerbating sectarian tensions at a time when they urgently need to be reduced." He said the U.S. is calling on Saudi Arabia to ensure fair judicial proceedings and permit peaceful expression of dissent while working with all community leaders to defuse tensions after the executions.

Al-Nimr's death comes 11 months after Saudi Arabia issued a sweeping counterterrorism law after Arab Spring protests shook the region in 2011 and toppled several longtime autocrats. The law codified that the kingdom could prosecute as a terrorist anyone who demands reform, exposes corruption or otherwise engages in dissent or violence against the government.

The convictions of those executed Saturday were issued by Saudi Arabia's Specialized Criminal Court, established in 2008 to try terrorism cases. The executed al-Qaida detainees were convicted of launching a spate of attacks against foreigners and security forces a decade ago.

To counter Arab Spring rumblings that threatened to spill into eastern Saudi Arabia, the kingdom sent troops in 2011 to crush Shiite protests demanding more political powers from the Sunni-led, fraternal monarchy of Bahrain. More security forces were also deployed that year to contain protests in Saudi Arabia's oil-rich east, where al-Nimr rallied youth who felt disenfranchised and persecuted.

A Saudi lawyer in the eastern region told The Associated Press that three other Shiite political detainees were also executed from among the 47. The lawyer spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Saudi Arabia says all those executed were convicted of acts of terrorism. Al-Nimr and the three others mentioned had been charged in connection with violence that led to the deaths of several protesters and police officers.

Saudi Arabia's top cleric Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Sheikh defended the executions as in line with Islamic Shariah law. He described the executions as a "mercy to the prisoners" because it would save them from committing more evil acts and prevent chaos.

Islamic scholars around the world hold vastly different views on the application of the death penalty in Shariah law. Saudi Arabia's judiciary adheres to one of the strictest interpretations, a Sunni Muslim ideology referred to as Wahhabism.

Saudi Arabia carries out most executions through beheading and sometimes in public and has drawn comparisons to extremist groups like al-Qaida and the Islamic State group — which also carry out public beheadings and claim to be implementing Shariah. It strongly rejects the comparisons and points out that it has a judicial appeals process with executions ultimately aimed at combating crime.

The Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah issued a statement calling al-Nimr's execution an "assassination" and a "ugly crime." The group added that those who carry the "moral and direct responsibility for this crime are the United States and its allies who give direct protection to the Saudi regime."

In a press conference Saturday, Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said the executions were carried out inside prisons and not in public, as is sometimes the case. The Interior Ministry, which announced the names of all 47 people executed in a statement, said a royal court order was issued to implement the sentences after all appeals had been exhausted.

Meanwhile, the execution of al-Qaida militants raised concerns over revenge attacks. The extremist group's branch in Yemen, known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, had threatened violence against Saudi security forces last month if they carried out executions of its fighters.

One of the executed was Faris al-Shuwail, a leading ideologue in al-Qaida's Saudi branch who was arrested in August 2004 during a massive crackdown on the group following the series of deadly attacks.

The executions took place in the capital, Riyadh, and 12 other cities and towns. Of those executed, 45 were Saudi citizens, one was from Chad and another was from Egypt. In announcing the verdicts, Saudi state television showed mugshots of those executed. Al-Nimr was No. 46, expressionless with a gray beard, his head covered with the red-and-white scarf traditionally worn by men in the Arab Gulf region.

Al-Nimr, who was in his 50s, never denied the political charges against him, but maintained he never carried weapons or called for violence. At his trial, he was asked if he disapproved of the Al Saud ruling family because of speeches in which he spoke out forcefully against former Interior Minister and late Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdelaziz, who is King Salman's elder brother.

"If injustice stops against Shiites in the east, then (at that point) I can have a different opinion," the cleric responded, according to his brother, who attended court sessions and spoke to The Associated Press just days before the Oct. 2014 verdict.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch's Middle East director Sarah Leah said "regardless of the crimes allegedly committed, executing prisoners in mass only further stains Saudi Arabia's troubling human rights record." She said al-Nimr was convicted in an "unfair" trial and that his execution "is only adding to the existing sectarian discord and unrest."

Al-Nimr's brother told the AP by telephone that the executions came as a "big shock" because "we thought the authorities could adopt a political approach to settle matters without bloodshed." He urged people to "adopt peaceful means when expressing their anger."

Saudi Arabia carried out at least 157 executions in 2015, with beheadings reaching their highest level in the kingdom in two decades, according to human rights groups.

Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Abdullah al-Shihri in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, Maamoun Youssef in Cairo, Reem Khalifa in Manama, Bahrain, Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

Iran, Saudi step up war of words over executed Shiite cleric

January 03, 2016

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's top leader on Sunday warned Saudi Arabia of "divine revenge" over the execution of an opposition Shiite cleric while Riyadh accused Tehran of supporting terrorism, escalating a war of words hours after protesters stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran.

Saudi Arabia announced the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday along with 46 others, including three other Shiite dissidents and a number of al-Qaida militants. Al-Nimr was a central figure in protests by Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority until his arrest in 2012, and his execution drew condemnation from Shiites across the region.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned the execution Sunday in a statement on his website, saying al-Nimr "neither invited people to take up arms nor hatched covert plots. The only thing he did was public criticism." Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard said Saudi Arabia's "medieval act of savagery" in executing the cleric would lead to the "downfall" of the country's monarchy.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry said that by condemning the execution, Iran had "revealed its true face represented in support for terrorism." The statement, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, accused Tehran of "blind sectarianism" and said that "by its defense of terrorist acts" Iran is a "partner in their crimes in the entire region."

Al-Nimr was convicted of terrorism charges but denied ever advocating violence. Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran are locked in a bitter rivalry, and support opposite sides in the wars in Syria and Yemen. Iran accuses Saudi Arabia of supporting "terrorism" in part because it backs Syrian rebel groups, while Riyadh points to Iran's support for the Lebanese Hezbollah and other Shiite militant groups in the region.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned the Saudi envoy in Tehran to protest, while the Saudi Foreign Ministry later said it had summoned Iran's envoy to the kingdom to protest Iran's criticism of the execution, saying it represented "blatant interference" in its internal affairs.

In Tehran, the crowd gathered outside the Saudi Embassy early Sunday and chanted anti-Saudi slogans. Some protesters threw stones and Molotov cocktails at the embassy, setting off a fire in part of the building, said the country's top police official, Gen. Hossein Sajedinia, according to the semiofficial Tasnim news agency. He later said police had removed the protesters from the building and arrested some of them, adding that the situation had been "defused."

Hours later, Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi said 40 people had been arrested on suspicion of taking part in the embassy attack and investigators were pursuing other suspects, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.

The cleric's execution could also complicate Saudi Arabia's relationship with the Shiite-led government in Iraq. The Saudi Embassy in Baghdad reopened for the first time in nearly 25 years on Friday. Already on Saturday there were public calls for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to shut the embassy down again.

Al-Abadi tweeted Saturday night that he was "shocked and saddened" by al-Nimr's execution, adding that "peaceful opposition is a fundamental right. Repression does not last." Hundreds of al-Nimr's supporters also protested in his hometown of al-Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia, in neighboring Bahrain where police fired tear gas and bird shot, and as far away as northern India.

Also Sunday, the BBC reported that one of the 47 executed in Saudi Arabia, Adel al-Dhubaiti, was convicted over a 2004 attack on its journalists in Riyadh. That attack by a gang outside of the home of a suspected al-Qaida militant killed 36-year-old Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers. British reporter Frank Gardner, now the BBC's security correspondent, was seriously wounded in the attack and paralyzed, but survived.

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Joseph Krauss and Maamoun Youssef in Cairo contributed to this report.

Accosted for her hijab, woman now teaches Muslim empowerment

December 31, 2015

When she was 16, Rana Abdelhamid was accosted on the streets of New York by a man who tried to pull off the head scarf she wears as a symbol of her commitment to her Muslim faith.

Rather than withdraw, as she'd seen other Muslim women do, she turned her anger into a program that is now working with young Muslim women to teach them self-defense while encouraging them to become leaders and role models for others in their communities.

Abdelhamid, a graduate of Vermont's Middlebury College who is now a student at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, says the challenge facing Muslims in general and Muslim women in particular has been getting worse, especially since the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California.

"It's unfortunate that it's becoming more needed and we're getting so many calls," said Abdelhamid, 22, who grew up in the Queens borough of New York. Robina Niaz, the executive director of the group Turning Point for Women and Families, an organization that works to end domestic violence in New York's Muslim community, said she first met Abdelhamid when she was in high school and participating in programs at the center.

"Rana is a living example of what one can accomplish when we invest in these young girls," Niaz said. "If we believe in them, if we support them, watch their back — they need just a little bit of nudging and mentoring and they are ready."

Muslim women in several cities across the country are organizing or taking self-defense classes, but Abdelhamid's organization, the Women's Initiative for Self-Empowerment, or WISE, goes beyond the physical self-defense skills to encourage the young women to become leaders and social entrepreneurs. The empowerment lessons can be as simple as showing the young women how to rent or reserve a room in a community center to tips on becoming a confident public speaker.

Abdelhamid said her efforts have not been universally well received by the Muslim community. "We have had some challenges and pushback from more traditionalist members of our community who don't necessarily see space for women in leadership, unfortunately," she said. "It's really, really disheartening because you want your allies to be within the community."

The program has grown since the first class was offered to about a dozen girls in the basement of a community center in Brooklyn. The basic program, called Mentee Muslimah (an Arabic word for Muslim women), is a 13-session summer camp attended in New York by about 50 young women of high-school age that follows a 100-page course outline Abdelhamid developed during an independent study course at Middlebury.

The organization relies heavily on donated space and volunteers, but it's also received donations and in some cases fees are charged to people taking the program to help defray expenses. She's in the process of setting up a formal non-profit group so WISE can have a permanent home and a budget. While an undergraduate at Vermont's Middlebury College, Abdelhamid used a grant from the school's Center for Social Entrepreneurship to expand her organization.

"What makes Rana really unique that we saw in her is that this is an issue that is connected to her identity and it drives her all the time," said Heather Neuwirth, the associate director of Middlebury's Entrepreneurship Center. "She took what could have been an experience that could have shut her down, she really realized the power in that and I think the way that she connects to others is deeply caring."

Abdelhamid sometimes travels to lead programs outside New York, but most are led by people who have taken the program and then been trained to teach it. The summer programs outside New York are held in Union City, New Jersey, Washington, Dallas, Madrid, and Edinburg, Scotland. She's working on setting up programs in Chicago, Dublin and Istanbul. Next month WISE also is planning a three-day program in Boston for Jewish women.

Nitasha Siddique, a 19-year-old student at Princeton, said she got involved with WISE after her junior year in high school when she was accepted into the New York summer programs. "There were a lot of really important conversations I'd never had before, but had the opportunity to have these conversations and have them with a group of girls who were close to me in age," she said.