Model UN in Israel came roaring back on Thursday, October 28, with Human MUN the first in person conference in over 18 months. Human MUN was hosted by the diplomacy major students at Kassim Ghanim high school in Maghar, in conjunction with Debate for Peace. Over 150 students grades 6-12 competed in the conference, with nearly all first-time delegates. This was an especially historic conference, constituting both the first in person conference since Covid 19 began, as well as the first ever conference in Maghar, which was announced as the first Druze majority city in Israel just two days earlier.

Human MUN featured four committees: the Human Rights Committee (HRC) focusing on the protection of journalists; UNESCO, dealing with the challenges of social media, World Health Organization (WHO) addressing Covid 19 vaccine issues, and the Arab League, which looked at regional peace efforts following the Abraham Accords. Participating students came from more than ten cities across Israel, including the Hand in Hand school in Jerusalem, Givat Haviva international school, Ashkelon, Petah Tiqva, AlManara school in Jeser Azarqa, Iksal high school, Bashaer high school in Sakhnin, Misgav high school, Nofarim Bagalil in Tiberias, and Amal Yanouh-Jatt, as well as schools in the host city of Maghar.

With so many first-time delegates, as well as several schools joining Model UN for the very first time, students were understandably a bit nervous. But after the opening minutes, the tension of a high-level conference in English gave way to the usual excitement of peer to peer engagement. Students learned how to debate in moderated caucuses and negotiate in unmoderated caucuses, and by the end of the conference there were smiles on the faces of the understandably exhausted delegates. 

At the closing ceremony, students heard welcoming remarks from the principal of the high school, Mr. Rezeq Othman, who expressed his admiration and support for the active participation in English he had witnessed over the course of the day. Seniors from the diplomacy major then took the stage and shared their personal growth thanks to their choice of the diplomacy track, including participating in Model UN, and in the Debate for Peace-led delegation to Switzerland over the summer.

Debate for Peace Director Steven Aiello spoke next. Expressing his pride at the achievements of all of the first-time delegates just for overcoming their fears and showing up to participate, he encouraged them to join future conferences. Aiello thanked the mayor of Maghar Mr. Fareed Ghanim and the director of the educational department Mr. Nizar for their exceptional support, as well as the principals of the Kassim Ghanim school: Mr. Rezeq Othman, principal of the high school, and Mr. Salman Daghash at the middle school. Mr. Aiello also thanked Mr. Muneer Ghanim the head of Eskol Pais and his wonderful team, noting that the facilities were ideal for enjoying MUN in a Covid safe environment. In closing, he thanked the chairs and teachers for supporting the students on their MUN journey, and noted in particular the role of the Diplomacy and MUN coordinator in Kassim Ghanim school, Summar Faraj, for being the pioneer to bring an MUN conference and international delegations to Maghar.

Summar Faraj added her thanks to Steven Aiello for helping with the conference organization, and expressed her thanks to Sassie Yona and Sara Dayan from the diplomacy major, for being “an inspiration, supportive and encouraging in every way.” She reiterated her gratitude to the Eshkol Payis and school administration and staff, as well as the Maghar municipality for their support, and of course to all the “outstanding delegates from the various cities and their amazing teachers.”

Finally the chairs came up committee by committee to call out the award winners for the HRC, UNESCO, WHO and Arab League committees. Following the award ceremony, the opening conference of the year, first in person MUN since March 2020, and first ever one in the newly designated city of Maghar came to a successful conclusion.

Steven Aiello

 Photos