Instructor Recruitment
Beginning this spring semester, the MIT MEET Student Group will recruit student instructors for this summer. Last year, MEET received 60 applications, and this year, we want even more. The plan is to flood the campus with blue and orange so that the MEET Logo will be known to every MIT student. Interviews for selected applicants will be held the last weekend in February, be hired by and March we will have new MEET instructors for the summer.

MEET the new Israeli Director
The MEET Management Team is excited to add a new member to the team, Tali, who will be taking over the position of Co-Director. Tali has vast experience in working to enhance the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Arabs, focusing over the past several years on training young business executives in cross-cultural management. We are very excited to have her as part of the MEET family and wish her success.

Student Recruitment
As February approaches, the MEET team is tirelessly working to recruit our third class of Palestinian and Israeli high school students. This year MEET has started recruiting students from two new cities, Beit Shemesh and Ramallah. Students who pass the rigorous selection process (a written exam and personal interview) will receive full scholarships to participate in the MEET program.

Daimler-Chrysler invites local investors to join business network
On Feburary 4th, MEET’s Israeli Director, Ms. Tali Dowek, and Executive Board member, Mr. Assaf A. Harlap, showcased MEET in a special event hosted by Mr. Godel Rosenberg of Daimler-Chrysler and his wife. The audience included over 30 leading members of the Israeli business community and the German embassy. "This is not a charity event. We are not looking for donations but for investments," proclaimed Mr. Rosenberg. "This is a glimpse to the future of the Middle East and this is your opprotunity to invest in these outstanding individuals."

INSEAD Charity Walk
This year, the annual INSEAD Charity Walk 2006 chose to support MEET. On June 4th, hundreds of students, alumni and faculty from this world-class business school will take part in the 10K walk in the Fontainebleau Forest in France. Organized by INDEVOR, a student-led organization devoted to social and environmental issues, the Charity Walk raises money for global and local charities, and we are very honored to be a part of the event.

	Name: Mohammad Wari Age: 16 Home Town: Shuaffat, Jerusalem In His Own Words: "I am working on the MEET Jerusalem
project. I'm really excited about it, not only because we're continuing our work from last summer, but because its about Jerusalem, the place where I live and the pretty city which I love. I have had too much fun with the other students who actually have become as friends, and I'd like to thank the MEET staff and everyone else for making MEET available to me."

Sun Microsystems and leading Palestinian Businessman sponsor the MEET Lab

Amazed and excited, MEET students took the elevator to the second floor of the beautiful Jerusalem building located on the seamline which divides Jerusalem between East and West. This was the first time they were seeing the new MEET office and labs – our new home! The space is the result of the financial support of one of Jerusalem’s leading Palestinian businessmen and a donation of 15 computers from Sun Microsystems Israel. This is the first time the MEET yearlong programs will have its own space where students can work together and where the MEET organization can operate from. This generous investments ends a long search for a place to facilitate the ongoing work of MEET students and their mentors throughout the academic year between their MEET summer programs. The new office will also allow MEET’s staff to develop the organization as it continuous to grows. The students could not believe their eyes – the place is beautiful and it is all theirs! After a long day of painting and cleaning Year One student Anwaar wrote: "This new space is such a great idea, because what I felt is that this is actually OUR place that belongs to US, and nobody esle but US, as MEET family :D!"

Co-director showcases MEET in Stockholm Conference

On January 30-31, MEET’s Palestinian Director, Abeer Hazboun, and Executive Board member, Ms. Anat Binur, represented MEET in the Palestine International Business Forum (PIBF) conference in Stockholm Sweden. Particpating in the conference, which was hosted by the Swedish government, NIR (International Council of Swedish Industury) and PIBF, were top level Swedish, Israeli, and Palestinian business leaders, as well as representatives of the the World Bank. MEET was invited to join the prestigous conference to present the unique way our educational model is promoting the future economic development of our region. In her presentation Ms. Hazboun emphasized the way in which the MEET program is developing professional networks between future Palestinian and Israeli leaders. "We are educating the next group of leaders who will sit in a room like the one you are all sitting in today here in Sweden, except that they will already come with the experince of having worked together and with a recognition of the advantage of being professional partners", said Abeer. The hands-on enterperneurship spirit of the private sector dominated the discussions of the conference and its outcomes, proving the strength that business and economic interests can have in overcoming political challenges. Participants in the conference were greatly enthusiastic about the MEET program and its achievements over the past two years. Swedish, Palestinian, and Israeli business people were committed to support the intiative which they felt represented a hope for the future.

On December 28th, first year students presented their projects. Anticipation suffused the auditorium, which was filled with excited MEET students. The students had been working hard, meeting weekly in their groups and attending tutoring sessions, since the end of the summer. This was their opportunity to show the MEET management team, their mentors, and their peers what they had accomplished during the past few months. The first group took the stage, and began explaining the new features they had implemented on their C-MEET Mystery programming project. Their program is a game, in which the player has to answer knowledge questions in order to progress towards the prize. They discussed a detailed future plan of the work that still needed to be done, and discused some of the challanges in working in a multicultural team holds. Other ongoing projects which were presented included a remote picture viewing program, a reminder program which helps you remember tasks, a text editor, and a tic-tac-toe game. The students admitted, that yes they were facing challenges, but were ready to work and overcome these challenges together. (You can see photos on our online gallery).

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