• For the 20I5 Amaldi Conference proceedings I had contributed an abridged report of the detailed presentation I had given on the history of SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East). For a more detailed account than in the 2015 proceedings, see my personal point of view published in Int.J.Mod.Phys.A 32 (2017) 08, 1,741,008.

SESAME is a regional “third-generation” synchrotron light source situated in Allan, Jordan. In 2015 I stated that it will be the Middle East's first major international research center and that it is expected to become operational during 2016/2017. Indeed by 2017 the operations had started. After an even briefer introduction (mostly based on 2015 contribution) I shall describe the developments in SESAME and its vision that have occurred since. Given the 2022 events in Ukraine I shall also make some comments on them in the SESAME context.

The current Members of SESAME are Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan (Pakistan has taken a step back), Palestine and Turkey. Active current observers include among others: The European Union, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

At the risk of sounding somewhat carried away I will say that the vision driving the many persons who have contributed to this project is the belief that human beings can work together for a cause that furthers the interests of their own people and that of humanity as a whole.

Scientists of all nations have a common language—science and many of them have a track record of participation in successful international collaborations such as those at CERN. Scientists are neither better nor worse than other human beings, but given the privilege of knowledge it is our duty to try our best to be a bridge for understanding—Science for Understanding. I prefer this terminology over the slogan Science for Peace. During my life I have found the cause of achieving the so-called “just and lasting peace” leading to much more bloodshed than more peace.

The 2015 contribution ended by describing how an Israeli initiative followed by Jordan, Iran and Turkey revived SESAME. The follow-up financial contribution of Italy under the leadership of Professor F. Ferroni and a crucial intervention of Rolf Heuer the then Director led finally to the EU supporting the SESAME project.

The essential EU support was led by the commissioner Carlos Moedas, as well as I. Smith and B. Fabiane. This was a watershed period for SESAME. The threshold between a dream and reality was now irrevocably crossed.

In the period 2015–2017 the hardware needed for SESAME was designed and assembled by joint CERN/SESAME teams at CERN.

It was gratifying to see the excitement of those members of the teams, not just from the region involved. Their eyes were literally shining when they reflected on the value of what they were doing.

The components were then shipped to SESAME, this time not to be stored in boxes, as the old German machine is, but to become the backbone of a modern light source.

The pace of events had finally accelerated, a star-studded inauguration (including among many others the DGs of CERN, UNESCO, Israeli science ministry, the king of Jordan, the EU commissioner of research), this time a real one as far as the machine is concerned. In the ceremony, amazingly, the political delegates of different member states listened to each other without leaving the room (as is the practice in other international organizations) and what was even more unique was that each member state delegate taking the podium gave essentially the same speech. As if for once they all instructed their speech writers to say the same thing, namely, “We are trying here to achieve understanding via collaboration”.

At that moment the baton was passed from one ex-DG of CERN—Chris Llewellyn Smith to another, Rolf Heuer. The Sesame Council is the only world Organization (except CERN) which benefitted from the fact that all its Council President were ex-DGs of CERN.

This with two beamlines running on a shoe-string budget, but running nevertheless. SESAME started producing science. From my point of view, I noted that first time ever, Israeli scientists did high quality research at a facility established on the soil of an Arab country, Jordan.

This unique facility started operating in uncanny normality. Proposals for experiments were submitted, refereed, and spots were allocated to the experiments chosen. Data was gathered, analyzed, and the results were and are being published in first-rate journals.

Thanks to the help of the EU, SESAME was to become the FIRST green light source, its energy generated by solar power. This also had the added bonus of stabilizing the energy bill of the machine.

Then came Covid-19 and the challenge to operate a machine in such circumstances. SESAME’s handling of the situation was second to none.

As we are coming out of the present Covid period so has SESAME.

More experiments performed and more papers in all fields of science published. Myself I was elected for the second time as a Vice-President of the SESAME council. Under the Presidency of Heuer we streamlined the council meetings and started dealing in earnest with the issues that any light source faces. Science brings a semblance of normality even to our region.

A third beam line is now being added and plans for more are at advanced stages. There is concern that the only component used from Bessy, the Microtron, may break down, thus endangering the operation of the whole machine. We continue to operate on a shoe-string budget marveling at the ingenuity of the SESAME staff and being sad about the seemingly budget indifference of many of the parties involved. World Media was less indifferent: the BBC, New York Times, Le Monde, Washington Post, Brussels Libre, The Arab Weekly as well as regional newspapers and TV stations did cover various aspects of SESAME.

The AAAS has highlighted the significance of SESAME by recognizing five founding fathers of SESAME and awarding them the AAAS prize For Science Diplomacy. They are Chris Llewellyn Smith (UK, CERN), Eliezer Rabinovici (ISRAEL), Zehra Sayers (TURKEY), Herwig Schopper (GERMANY, CERN) and Khaled Toukan (JORDAN).

I shall now allow myself to propose some headlines befitting SESAME.

So far, the drive of the scientists and many others has taken their governments to a place they most likely never dreamt to be at.

And… so far… the governments did not blink.

Maintaining this attitude in a stormy political environment is very difficult and not enough appreciated and yet, one miracle was achieved. One has shown that the people in the region can work together for their own benefit and the benefit of humanity. However, “from now on SESAME will be judged more and more by the quality of the science it produces”. High- quality science requires appropriate funding and help. SESAME needs them. My dream is that in the not so distant future people will be able to point to a significant discovery and say “This was discovered at SESAME”.

Writing this in June 2022 I need to make a comment on the impact that the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation had on CERN.

Here I mean the impact it had on holding on to the vision and human mission of CERN.

In many ways SESAME is a very special child of CERN. Sometimes we find that our children can teach us important lessons.

As President of the CERN Council in 2022 I can say that the way in which the member states of SESAME conducted themselves during the decades of storms that affect our region can now serve as benchmark of how to keep bridges for understanding under the most trying circumstances. The SESAME spirit (so far) being a lighthouse even to the CERN Council.