Back to Humanities
Nuclear Iran Issue: Self Reflection
1. How has your perspective changed (on the UN, the world, or the Middle East) based on this project?
Through this project I feel like I really learned a lot more about the UN and the Middle East in general. Because my background knowledge on the UN and the Middle East was so limited, I feel like overall, my perspective on things didn’t change, instead I developed a perspective. The perspectives that were brought into fruition during this project were really strong for my perspective on the UN. After the first conference, I was totally convinced that working in the UN must be such a thrilling job and I would really like to try to develop a MUN sig for AHS because it is so eye opening and involved with real issues happening right now. After the second conference I still felt the same way and I am completely in love with the whole process, but after two conferences and two topics to research, I realized that the UN was a lot of work and that people in the UN must be frustrated with how slow things move because I know that I was beginning to wish things would move faster and we only had to get through 20 speeches; not 192.
2. Look at what you needed to improve on from your last reflection and discuss how you improved for this conference.
On my last conference self-assessment I said that I needed to enforce parliamentary procedures and rule points or motions dilatory if the delegates got out of hand or decided to pull any shenanigans. Our second MUN conference was held in a much more professional setting which caused my peers to behave themselves more and act very professional. Due to this, there was not much of an opportunity to enforce distracting behavior, nor was there a reason to. In a way, you could say that I completed my improvement goal, but then again it’s unfair to say that seeing that there was no reason for me to improve because similar issues did not occur. I feel that one way I improved a lot in this conference compared to the first was staying aware of what was happening in the discussions. In the first conference, I often found myself drifting off and not really listening to the speeches, but in this second conference on the Nuclear Iran issue I was more interested in the speeches, and so I then was attentive during the discussion and formal debate.
3. If we did yet at third conference, what would you most need to improve on from this conference?
If we were to pursue a third conference I think that something I would have most liked to improve on would have been the technology set up and the procedures. Because during class I found that I had a bit of free time on my hands I would have liked to look into other procedures that may have been helpful in the conference and then approached Mr. Fisher about adding that into the conference to make things move that much smoother. Then, the night before the conference I would like to brush up on the procedures of the conference to make sure I knew all the rules and acceptations to those rules. Also, I would have liked to change the technology system that we were using because halfway through our conference I had an epiphany. My genius idea was that if we had our speakers list digitally, we would have the word document formatted so that it was two columns and then on one side we would have the actual countries and sign them up. On the other side of the document I would have us write the speaking time, the amount of comments and maybe a friendly tip or something. That way it would be giving the delegates important information about the speeches and they would have access to it the entire conference. Although these are just minor adjustments I feel that in a conference it would have made a significant difference.
4. Give yourself a grade for the following categories and explain why that is the grade you deserve:
a. Tedious tasks:
Being a chair, I really ended up doing quite a bit of busy work where I was working in Photoshop or doing something that really ended up being important to the conference, but not extremely educational. For this work, I feel that I deserve an A+. Although this may seem a bit high, I feel that I dealt with the Photoshop tasks without complaining too much considering the fact that I am completely unable work Photoshop.
b. Preparedness level at the conference:
The Thursday before our conference my partner and I did a “dummy check” where we went through all of our paper work and made sure we had everything we needed for the conference. This helped us organize all of our paper and really be completely prepared for the exhibition. On Friday, because I was absent, my partner, for lack of anything better to do, tabbed our folder so that everything was in sections and was clearly labeled. I think this was extremely beneficial to us in the final event, so I thank her for that. At the conference I arrived 30 minutes before I was supposed to be there so I could just do another check of our materials. Surely, I deserve an A for preparedness.
c. Performance during the conference:
For my performance at the conference I feel that my grade should be an A-. At the final MUN conference, I think that I did a splendid job at keeping delegates focused and following procedures to make sure the conference went as smoothly as possible. I did, however, had a few glitches that I feel would bring the overall grade for the conference down. One thing that I noticed I was doing a lot during our conference was yawning a lot, which shows disrespect, and I also over expressed myself when we messed something up by throwing my hands over my face and sighing heavily or something along those lines. All of these gestures were unnecessary and therefore I don’t feel that I deserve full credit for the conference performance.
Through this project I feel like I really learned a lot more about the UN and the Middle East in general. Because my background knowledge on the UN and the Middle East was so limited, I feel like overall, my perspective on things didn’t change, instead I developed a perspective. The perspectives that were brought into fruition during this project were really strong for my perspective on the UN. After the first conference, I was totally convinced that working in the UN must be such a thrilling job and I would really like to try to develop a MUN sig for AHS because it is so eye opening and involved with real issues happening right now. After the second conference I still felt the same way and I am completely in love with the whole process, but after two conferences and two topics to research, I realized that the UN was a lot of work and that people in the UN must be frustrated with how slow things move because I know that I was beginning to wish things would move faster and we only had to get through 20 speeches; not 192.
2. Look at what you needed to improve on from your last reflection and discuss how you improved for this conference.
On my last conference self-assessment I said that I needed to enforce parliamentary procedures and rule points or motions dilatory if the delegates got out of hand or decided to pull any shenanigans. Our second MUN conference was held in a much more professional setting which caused my peers to behave themselves more and act very professional. Due to this, there was not much of an opportunity to enforce distracting behavior, nor was there a reason to. In a way, you could say that I completed my improvement goal, but then again it’s unfair to say that seeing that there was no reason for me to improve because similar issues did not occur. I feel that one way I improved a lot in this conference compared to the first was staying aware of what was happening in the discussions. In the first conference, I often found myself drifting off and not really listening to the speeches, but in this second conference on the Nuclear Iran issue I was more interested in the speeches, and so I then was attentive during the discussion and formal debate.
3. If we did yet at third conference, what would you most need to improve on from this conference?
If we were to pursue a third conference I think that something I would have most liked to improve on would have been the technology set up and the procedures. Because during class I found that I had a bit of free time on my hands I would have liked to look into other procedures that may have been helpful in the conference and then approached Mr. Fisher about adding that into the conference to make things move that much smoother. Then, the night before the conference I would like to brush up on the procedures of the conference to make sure I knew all the rules and acceptations to those rules. Also, I would have liked to change the technology system that we were using because halfway through our conference I had an epiphany. My genius idea was that if we had our speakers list digitally, we would have the word document formatted so that it was two columns and then on one side we would have the actual countries and sign them up. On the other side of the document I would have us write the speaking time, the amount of comments and maybe a friendly tip or something. That way it would be giving the delegates important information about the speeches and they would have access to it the entire conference. Although these are just minor adjustments I feel that in a conference it would have made a significant difference.
4. Give yourself a grade for the following categories and explain why that is the grade you deserve:
a. Tedious tasks:
Being a chair, I really ended up doing quite a bit of busy work where I was working in Photoshop or doing something that really ended up being important to the conference, but not extremely educational. For this work, I feel that I deserve an A+. Although this may seem a bit high, I feel that I dealt with the Photoshop tasks without complaining too much considering the fact that I am completely unable work Photoshop.
b. Preparedness level at the conference:
The Thursday before our conference my partner and I did a “dummy check” where we went through all of our paper work and made sure we had everything we needed for the conference. This helped us organize all of our paper and really be completely prepared for the exhibition. On Friday, because I was absent, my partner, for lack of anything better to do, tabbed our folder so that everything was in sections and was clearly labeled. I think this was extremely beneficial to us in the final event, so I thank her for that. At the conference I arrived 30 minutes before I was supposed to be there so I could just do another check of our materials. Surely, I deserve an A for preparedness.
c. Performance during the conference:
For my performance at the conference I feel that my grade should be an A-. At the final MUN conference, I think that I did a splendid job at keeping delegates focused and following procedures to make sure the conference went as smoothly as possible. I did, however, had a few glitches that I feel would bring the overall grade for the conference down. One thing that I noticed I was doing a lot during our conference was yawning a lot, which shows disrespect, and I also over expressed myself when we messed something up by throwing my hands over my face and sighing heavily or something along those lines. All of these gestures were unnecessary and therefore I don’t feel that I deserve full credit for the conference performance.
Palestinian Refugee Issue: Self Reflection
1. What are you most proud of about this conference?
During this conference I was really confident and accomplished the whole time. One particular thing that I am the most proud about is how calm I was. Personally, I felt that I didn’t have any crazy tense nerves jumping around and that gave me a collected feeling during the conference. This feeling allowed me to come into the conference with an even head and be prepared to deal with complications. Throughout the conference I was really proud of how professionally I handled the conference and served the delegates. While we were in formal debate I think that I was a commanding figure that really keep things streamlined and we really only got off topic and slightly distracted once. Over all I just felt proud that I could run the conference and apply everything that I had been working on through the three weeks building up to the conference.
2. How did you deal with the unique challenges and responsibilities of being a chair?
During this project I was a chair, which essentially was the person who sat at the front of the room and called on delegates and moderated their conference. I feel that something that was really difficult for me was independent research. Mr. Fisher basically sat the chairs down and showed us the format for our issue briefs and told us the topic and then let us loose to do our own research. I think that this was a really large challenge for me because throughout my history as a student I have always been unsure of myself and constantly asked teachers for reassurance that I was doing the right thing, but with this particular assignment in the project there wasn’t a large amount of opportunity for me to ask Mr. Fisher for help, mainly because he was busy with helping the countries with research and he wanted the chairs to be independent. I dealt with these challenges by working on the research and writing my issue brief on the weekend. Also, the first time I turned my issue brief in Mr. Fisher found it less than satisfactory and so I had to make a lot of changes and for the longest time, I felt like Mr. Fisher hated me. But then I realized that he knows that I can do better than what I had turned in and he was just pushing me. With his feedback I got a better organization system for the paper and I turned in an issue brief that I was much more proud of than the first.
3. What was the most important thing you learned in this project? Why?
The most important thing about this project for me was learning about how the UN functioned. Although the topic was really interesting, I think that the most important thing I learned is all the different very important roles each nation plays in a conference. In class when we were doing a reflection, I heard from many of my peers that they didn’t want to have a job in the UN because it is a lot of work and you have to be completely dedicated to it, which is true. I feel quite differently about the UN, in fact I would love to have a job at the UN because it is so intriguing to me and they get to have so much important information that they deal with. Although it could fall into a stressful situation and it would definitely be hard, I think that being able to help people and improve the lives of people in need would be so amazing. As I have said before in the past, I think one of the most valuable things in learning about yourself is to know what makes you happy and what makes you excited and interested; this project really made me excited. So obviously, the thing that I learned during this project that was most important is that I really enjoy UN matters and by knowing this, I know myself just that much better.
4. If you were a teacher or observer, what would you say about your performance in conference? (Good AND Bad!)
I would say that from a teachers stand point looking in on my performance during the conference, I would say that I made more good decisions than bad ones. Throughout the conference I think that an observer would see that I was slightly stressed out and really nervous, but if they watched more they would see the calmer side that I tried to show. Also, I feel that they would see that I was doing my best to stay in control of my anxious nerves and that I was really preforming to the best of my ability at the time when it was a slow Monday morning. On the flip side of this coin, the observer would see a girl who was making small and rather insignificant mistakes all over the place. Although they are small slip-ups it was still a noticeable aspect of my conference performance and I feel that an onlooker would surely notice that.
5. For our next MUN conference, what would you most want to improve in your performance? How do you plan on doing this?
Something that I noticed strongly coming through in the delegates feedback as well as my own feedback to myself was that as a chair, I should have put a stop to fun and games and pointless motions sooner than I did. Overall, I feel that our conference ran smoothly without any large hitches, but then again there was large space for me to improve as a chair and make sure the delegates were focused the entirety of the conference. I plan on making sure that nonsensical things are stopped at the base by being more confident in myself. I feel that I might have not acted properly in the conference because I was worried that people would think I was “mean” or I would rule something dilatory when it wasn’t necessary. Now, going through one conference, I feel that in the next conference I can be more confident in my decisions as well as know that if the delegates hold something against me personally, that is probably not related to the conference. I will be surer of myself and put my foot down before things get out of hand, always remembering that in the conference, we are professional delegates and chairs and that doesn’t affect the way we treat each other outside of the conference.
During this conference I was really confident and accomplished the whole time. One particular thing that I am the most proud about is how calm I was. Personally, I felt that I didn’t have any crazy tense nerves jumping around and that gave me a collected feeling during the conference. This feeling allowed me to come into the conference with an even head and be prepared to deal with complications. Throughout the conference I was really proud of how professionally I handled the conference and served the delegates. While we were in formal debate I think that I was a commanding figure that really keep things streamlined and we really only got off topic and slightly distracted once. Over all I just felt proud that I could run the conference and apply everything that I had been working on through the three weeks building up to the conference.
2. How did you deal with the unique challenges and responsibilities of being a chair?
During this project I was a chair, which essentially was the person who sat at the front of the room and called on delegates and moderated their conference. I feel that something that was really difficult for me was independent research. Mr. Fisher basically sat the chairs down and showed us the format for our issue briefs and told us the topic and then let us loose to do our own research. I think that this was a really large challenge for me because throughout my history as a student I have always been unsure of myself and constantly asked teachers for reassurance that I was doing the right thing, but with this particular assignment in the project there wasn’t a large amount of opportunity for me to ask Mr. Fisher for help, mainly because he was busy with helping the countries with research and he wanted the chairs to be independent. I dealt with these challenges by working on the research and writing my issue brief on the weekend. Also, the first time I turned my issue brief in Mr. Fisher found it less than satisfactory and so I had to make a lot of changes and for the longest time, I felt like Mr. Fisher hated me. But then I realized that he knows that I can do better than what I had turned in and he was just pushing me. With his feedback I got a better organization system for the paper and I turned in an issue brief that I was much more proud of than the first.
3. What was the most important thing you learned in this project? Why?
The most important thing about this project for me was learning about how the UN functioned. Although the topic was really interesting, I think that the most important thing I learned is all the different very important roles each nation plays in a conference. In class when we were doing a reflection, I heard from many of my peers that they didn’t want to have a job in the UN because it is a lot of work and you have to be completely dedicated to it, which is true. I feel quite differently about the UN, in fact I would love to have a job at the UN because it is so intriguing to me and they get to have so much important information that they deal with. Although it could fall into a stressful situation and it would definitely be hard, I think that being able to help people and improve the lives of people in need would be so amazing. As I have said before in the past, I think one of the most valuable things in learning about yourself is to know what makes you happy and what makes you excited and interested; this project really made me excited. So obviously, the thing that I learned during this project that was most important is that I really enjoy UN matters and by knowing this, I know myself just that much better.
4. If you were a teacher or observer, what would you say about your performance in conference? (Good AND Bad!)
I would say that from a teachers stand point looking in on my performance during the conference, I would say that I made more good decisions than bad ones. Throughout the conference I think that an observer would see that I was slightly stressed out and really nervous, but if they watched more they would see the calmer side that I tried to show. Also, I feel that they would see that I was doing my best to stay in control of my anxious nerves and that I was really preforming to the best of my ability at the time when it was a slow Monday morning. On the flip side of this coin, the observer would see a girl who was making small and rather insignificant mistakes all over the place. Although they are small slip-ups it was still a noticeable aspect of my conference performance and I feel that an onlooker would surely notice that.
5. For our next MUN conference, what would you most want to improve in your performance? How do you plan on doing this?
Something that I noticed strongly coming through in the delegates feedback as well as my own feedback to myself was that as a chair, I should have put a stop to fun and games and pointless motions sooner than I did. Overall, I feel that our conference ran smoothly without any large hitches, but then again there was large space for me to improve as a chair and make sure the delegates were focused the entirety of the conference. I plan on making sure that nonsensical things are stopped at the base by being more confident in myself. I feel that I might have not acted properly in the conference because I was worried that people would think I was “mean” or I would rule something dilatory when it wasn’t necessary. Now, going through one conference, I feel that in the next conference I can be more confident in my decisions as well as know that if the delegates hold something against me personally, that is probably not related to the conference. I will be surer of myself and put my foot down before things get out of hand, always remembering that in the conference, we are professional delegates and chairs and that doesn’t affect the way we treat each other outside of the conference.
Palestinian Refugee Issue: Issue Brief
UN Brief Issue: Palestinian Refugee Issue
I. Background Information
On May 14th, 1948, the same day the British Mandate over Palestine was terminated, the Jewish People’s Council met and official declared Israel a state. This new State was created to provide a nationality for Jews as well as being a place for them to escape persecution. The Jewish people were allowed to go back to that particular area because of the deep ties of their religion to the “Holy Land.” In history, Jesus has been depicted as a Jew, and so the Jews were granted the Law of Return to return to their “homeland.” The Palestinians living in Israel before it was a safe, prosecution free territory for the Jews, also feel the land that is the state of Israel is important for them. The majority of Palestinians practice the Islam religion and follow the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. The Temple Mountain, a mountain Muslims believe Muhammed climbed into heaven, is just one of the religious monuments of great importance to the Muslims in Israel. The land that Israel is covering is probably one of the holiest sites for Muslims and Jews due to the historical background of the land.
Zionism is a Jewish Political Movement in which Jews have become self-determined to return to their homeland to escape the unfair treatment inflicted upon them in Europe. Since Israel has become a dependent Jewish country, Zionists main job has been to represent the state of Israel.
Arab Nationalism, in its most basic form, is the belief that people from the Arab world, from the Arabian Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, should be one nation where the people are brought together and share common linguistics, religions, cultural and historical heritage. A large part of Arab Nationalisms aim is to end the Western influence on the Arab world and dissolve any Arab governments that seem to be strongly under the influence of the Western power. Arab Nationalism rose into stronger power than they once possessed at the end of the non-Arab Ottoman Empire. Another similar belief to that of Arab Nationalism is the Pan-Arabism belief which calls for communalism within the Arab states.
During World War 1, the Balfour Declaration of 1917 was established. This declaration stated that British Government enjoyed the idea of founding in a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. The British Mandate of Palestine, which included the Balfour Declaration, was passed by the League of Nations in 1922 and then was enforced in 1923. The British Mandate drew borders for the Palestinian state and the Jewish state. In their map of the future, the Arabs received 80% of the land and the Jews were granted the remaining 20% of the land. Although the United States didn’t join the League of Nations, they signed an extra agreement with Britain in which the verified the terms of the British Mandate. The Zionists accepted this plan, despite the grim outcome for them, so they could bring more European Jews into the future state. The Arabs rejected this idea which led to rioting and violence caused by Arabs.
On November 29th, 1947 the United Nations passes the Partition Plan, which replaced the British Mandate. This plan, similar to the Mandate, proposed a two state solution, but under this plan the Jews would receive 56% of the land and Palestinian Arabs would receive 42% of the land. Again, the Zionists accepted this plan and again, the Arabs rejected it. Shortly after the Partition Plan was passed, the Arabs break out in fighting and rebellion and that leads into the 1948 Civil War. During and after the 1948 war, 750,000 out of 900,000 Arabs fled or were kicked out of the territory.
The Six Day war took place from June 5th to 10th of 1967 and was the third major conflict in between the Arabs and Israelis. Key participants in the Six Day War include Israel, Egypt, Syria and Jordan. In addition to these, other Arab countries played smaller roles in the conflict. After high tensions between the Arabs and Israel, Israel launched air attacks onto the Arabs which started the war. At the end of the war Israel took control over the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
In 2008 the Palestinian and Israeli leaders met and a map was proposed by the Israeli Prime Minister. This map divided Israel almost equally in between the Jews and the Arabs as well as dividing Jerusalem so the Palestinians could have the eastern part of the city as their capital. The Palestinian president took the map and after claiming he would return the following day to discuss the borders, he never came back. That was the last time the Palestinian and Israeli leaders met.
Currently, the majority of refugees is in Lebanon where their living conditions are less that suitable. A survey done in Beirut, Lebanon and the Gaza Displacement Center found that many people lived in a one bedroom home with more people than that room can contain. From the participants in the survey they found that there are 97 Households and 437 residents. Based on this survey they found that 11% of the houses did not have ventilation, 49% of the homes had no heating, and 54% of the houses had mold and dampness.
II. Statistics
Jordan: Jordan is home to 10 refugee camps.
Lebanon: There are 422,000 registered refugees in Lebanon and there are 12 official camps with 225,125 refugees.
Syria: Within Syria there are 10 official camps with 119,776 refugees.
West Bank: The West Bank has 19 official camps with 194,514 refugees.
Gaza Strip: In the eight refugee camps in the Gaza Strip there are 478,854 refugees.
In 1948-1949 the Israeli government claimed that the refugee count was 520,000 but Palestinians say that there were 850,000. In January of 2010, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency claimed there to have been 1,396,368 refugees registered in camps and 3,370,302 not registered in any camps.
III. UN Involvement
On November 29, 1947 the UNGA passes a Partition Plan which divided the British Mandate and declared there should be a two State solution in which the territories of the Palestinians would be a country and Israel would be allowed to stay a country as well. Resolution 181, Plan of Partition with Economic Union, is also another part of the Partition Plan that was discussed in the UN. Under this plan the British mandate would be eradicated as soon as possible and the United Kingdoms would recede from Palestine. This resolution and plan tried to address the two objectives and claims of the competing movements; the Arab Nationalism and the Jewish Nationalism (Zionism). Within this plan there was an in depth description of the recommended boundaries and borderlines for each State. As mentioned in the background, the Jewish government agreed with the Partition plan but the Palestinians rejected the plan and immediately after the resolution passed a bout of violence broke out which was known as the “Civil War.” Because of the violence the plan was never set rolling. In 2011, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the Arabian’s rejection of the plan was a mistake and that he hoped he would soon be able to repair that. Resolution 181 Issue: Future Government of Palestine. Results of the UN:
For: 33
Abstained: 10
Against: 13
The UNGA created the Resolution 194 and it passed on December 11, 1948, close to the end of the Arab-Israeli war. This resolution called for the refugees to be allowed to return to their homes. Resolution 194 also outlined the UNs position and the United Nations Conciliation Commission became an organization that would regulate peace in the region. The voting results of this resolution were as follows, with only 58 nation’s part of the UN at the time:
For: 35
Abstained: 8
Against: 15
Resolution 3236 was passed on November 22nd, 1947 and declared the right of return for Palestinian-Arabs to be an “inalienable” right.
After the Six Day War, and after lengthy debates and meetings, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 242. This resolution stated "every state in the area to [should] live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." Resolution 242 was passed on November 22nd, 1967 and was unanimous among the Security Council.
Results:
For: 15
Abstained: 0
Against: 0
IV. Possible Solutions
· One of the possible solutions that have been discussed is a right of return for the refugees, meaning they will be allowed to return to their homes.
· The two state solution proposed in the Partition Plan. With this there is the issue of final borders from Israel and Palestine.
· Other Middle East countries could volunteer to take all the refugees in, but with this there is the potential for their politicians who already are in office to have jeopardized careers.
· Refugees would stay in the refugee camps, but they would receive more materials and better living conditions as well as extra space so that the refugee camps became more permanent homes.
· The countries that the refugees are currently in could grant them citizenship and they would stay in those particular countries so no one country has to take them all on.
V. Questions to Consider
· Where will the final borders be if the UN chooses to initiate the two state plan?
· How would the treatment be from the Palestinians to the Jews and vice versa if the UN decides to instigate the right of return plan?
· What will happen if one of the Middle East States takes in all the refugees?
· With the short outbursts of violence, is there potential for it to build into another war?
· How should the US respond to the refugee crisis?
· Is there a way for the UN to ease the suffering of the refugees, if not solve the whole refugee issue, without having to solve the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
VI. Bloc Positions
Arab States Position:
The Arab League, an organization of states in the Northern parts of Africa and Southwest Asia, told the states included in the League to deny the Palestinians citizenship in any of those countries.
Palestinian Views:
In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the document states that 1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. 2) Everyone had the right to leave any country, including his own, and return to his country. The Palestinians refugees claim that they deserve the right of return. Although this is stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, there have been arguments that it only applies to citizens of a country. Both of the Palestinian groups, the Fatah and the Hamas, are strongly in favor for the right of return.
United States Position:
The US believes that the permanent members of the Security council should prevent the issue from growing larger and threatening to destroy all world peace. They believe that the Security council should demand that the Palestinians stop their efforts at implementing the proposed partition plan. In 2011the United States vetoed a resolution which would declare all of the Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory illegal. All other members of the Security Council were in favor of this resolution.
VII. Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_refugee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_194
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Partition_Plan_for_Palestine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tashbih_Sayyed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_League
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_nationalism
http://israelipalestinian.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000573
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/Declaration%20of%20Establishment%20of%20State%20of%20Israel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Israel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_Security_Council_Resolution_242
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_War
http://www.sixdaywar.org/index.asp
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/UN%20Security%20Council%20Resolution%20242
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_refugee_camps
http://jech.bmj.com/content/62/2/91.abstract
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/decad166.asp
I. Background Information
On May 14th, 1948, the same day the British Mandate over Palestine was terminated, the Jewish People’s Council met and official declared Israel a state. This new State was created to provide a nationality for Jews as well as being a place for them to escape persecution. The Jewish people were allowed to go back to that particular area because of the deep ties of their religion to the “Holy Land.” In history, Jesus has been depicted as a Jew, and so the Jews were granted the Law of Return to return to their “homeland.” The Palestinians living in Israel before it was a safe, prosecution free territory for the Jews, also feel the land that is the state of Israel is important for them. The majority of Palestinians practice the Islam religion and follow the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. The Temple Mountain, a mountain Muslims believe Muhammed climbed into heaven, is just one of the religious monuments of great importance to the Muslims in Israel. The land that Israel is covering is probably one of the holiest sites for Muslims and Jews due to the historical background of the land.
Zionism is a Jewish Political Movement in which Jews have become self-determined to return to their homeland to escape the unfair treatment inflicted upon them in Europe. Since Israel has become a dependent Jewish country, Zionists main job has been to represent the state of Israel.
Arab Nationalism, in its most basic form, is the belief that people from the Arab world, from the Arabian Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, should be one nation where the people are brought together and share common linguistics, religions, cultural and historical heritage. A large part of Arab Nationalisms aim is to end the Western influence on the Arab world and dissolve any Arab governments that seem to be strongly under the influence of the Western power. Arab Nationalism rose into stronger power than they once possessed at the end of the non-Arab Ottoman Empire. Another similar belief to that of Arab Nationalism is the Pan-Arabism belief which calls for communalism within the Arab states.
During World War 1, the Balfour Declaration of 1917 was established. This declaration stated that British Government enjoyed the idea of founding in a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. The British Mandate of Palestine, which included the Balfour Declaration, was passed by the League of Nations in 1922 and then was enforced in 1923. The British Mandate drew borders for the Palestinian state and the Jewish state. In their map of the future, the Arabs received 80% of the land and the Jews were granted the remaining 20% of the land. Although the United States didn’t join the League of Nations, they signed an extra agreement with Britain in which the verified the terms of the British Mandate. The Zionists accepted this plan, despite the grim outcome for them, so they could bring more European Jews into the future state. The Arabs rejected this idea which led to rioting and violence caused by Arabs.
On November 29th, 1947 the United Nations passes the Partition Plan, which replaced the British Mandate. This plan, similar to the Mandate, proposed a two state solution, but under this plan the Jews would receive 56% of the land and Palestinian Arabs would receive 42% of the land. Again, the Zionists accepted this plan and again, the Arabs rejected it. Shortly after the Partition Plan was passed, the Arabs break out in fighting and rebellion and that leads into the 1948 Civil War. During and after the 1948 war, 750,000 out of 900,000 Arabs fled or were kicked out of the territory.
The Six Day war took place from June 5th to 10th of 1967 and was the third major conflict in between the Arabs and Israelis. Key participants in the Six Day War include Israel, Egypt, Syria and Jordan. In addition to these, other Arab countries played smaller roles in the conflict. After high tensions between the Arabs and Israel, Israel launched air attacks onto the Arabs which started the war. At the end of the war Israel took control over the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
In 2008 the Palestinian and Israeli leaders met and a map was proposed by the Israeli Prime Minister. This map divided Israel almost equally in between the Jews and the Arabs as well as dividing Jerusalem so the Palestinians could have the eastern part of the city as their capital. The Palestinian president took the map and after claiming he would return the following day to discuss the borders, he never came back. That was the last time the Palestinian and Israeli leaders met.
Currently, the majority of refugees is in Lebanon where their living conditions are less that suitable. A survey done in Beirut, Lebanon and the Gaza Displacement Center found that many people lived in a one bedroom home with more people than that room can contain. From the participants in the survey they found that there are 97 Households and 437 residents. Based on this survey they found that 11% of the houses did not have ventilation, 49% of the homes had no heating, and 54% of the houses had mold and dampness.
II. Statistics
Jordan: Jordan is home to 10 refugee camps.
Lebanon: There are 422,000 registered refugees in Lebanon and there are 12 official camps with 225,125 refugees.
Syria: Within Syria there are 10 official camps with 119,776 refugees.
West Bank: The West Bank has 19 official camps with 194,514 refugees.
Gaza Strip: In the eight refugee camps in the Gaza Strip there are 478,854 refugees.
In 1948-1949 the Israeli government claimed that the refugee count was 520,000 but Palestinians say that there were 850,000. In January of 2010, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency claimed there to have been 1,396,368 refugees registered in camps and 3,370,302 not registered in any camps.
III. UN Involvement
On November 29, 1947 the UNGA passes a Partition Plan which divided the British Mandate and declared there should be a two State solution in which the territories of the Palestinians would be a country and Israel would be allowed to stay a country as well. Resolution 181, Plan of Partition with Economic Union, is also another part of the Partition Plan that was discussed in the UN. Under this plan the British mandate would be eradicated as soon as possible and the United Kingdoms would recede from Palestine. This resolution and plan tried to address the two objectives and claims of the competing movements; the Arab Nationalism and the Jewish Nationalism (Zionism). Within this plan there was an in depth description of the recommended boundaries and borderlines for each State. As mentioned in the background, the Jewish government agreed with the Partition plan but the Palestinians rejected the plan and immediately after the resolution passed a bout of violence broke out which was known as the “Civil War.” Because of the violence the plan was never set rolling. In 2011, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the Arabian’s rejection of the plan was a mistake and that he hoped he would soon be able to repair that. Resolution 181 Issue: Future Government of Palestine. Results of the UN:
For: 33
Abstained: 10
Against: 13
The UNGA created the Resolution 194 and it passed on December 11, 1948, close to the end of the Arab-Israeli war. This resolution called for the refugees to be allowed to return to their homes. Resolution 194 also outlined the UNs position and the United Nations Conciliation Commission became an organization that would regulate peace in the region. The voting results of this resolution were as follows, with only 58 nation’s part of the UN at the time:
For: 35
Abstained: 8
Against: 15
Resolution 3236 was passed on November 22nd, 1947 and declared the right of return for Palestinian-Arabs to be an “inalienable” right.
After the Six Day War, and after lengthy debates and meetings, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 242. This resolution stated "every state in the area to [should] live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." Resolution 242 was passed on November 22nd, 1967 and was unanimous among the Security Council.
Results:
For: 15
Abstained: 0
Against: 0
IV. Possible Solutions
· One of the possible solutions that have been discussed is a right of return for the refugees, meaning they will be allowed to return to their homes.
· The two state solution proposed in the Partition Plan. With this there is the issue of final borders from Israel and Palestine.
· Other Middle East countries could volunteer to take all the refugees in, but with this there is the potential for their politicians who already are in office to have jeopardized careers.
· Refugees would stay in the refugee camps, but they would receive more materials and better living conditions as well as extra space so that the refugee camps became more permanent homes.
· The countries that the refugees are currently in could grant them citizenship and they would stay in those particular countries so no one country has to take them all on.
V. Questions to Consider
· Where will the final borders be if the UN chooses to initiate the two state plan?
· How would the treatment be from the Palestinians to the Jews and vice versa if the UN decides to instigate the right of return plan?
· What will happen if one of the Middle East States takes in all the refugees?
· With the short outbursts of violence, is there potential for it to build into another war?
· How should the US respond to the refugee crisis?
· Is there a way for the UN to ease the suffering of the refugees, if not solve the whole refugee issue, without having to solve the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
VI. Bloc Positions
Arab States Position:
The Arab League, an organization of states in the Northern parts of Africa and Southwest Asia, told the states included in the League to deny the Palestinians citizenship in any of those countries.
Palestinian Views:
In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the document states that 1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. 2) Everyone had the right to leave any country, including his own, and return to his country. The Palestinians refugees claim that they deserve the right of return. Although this is stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, there have been arguments that it only applies to citizens of a country. Both of the Palestinian groups, the Fatah and the Hamas, are strongly in favor for the right of return.
United States Position:
The US believes that the permanent members of the Security council should prevent the issue from growing larger and threatening to destroy all world peace. They believe that the Security council should demand that the Palestinians stop their efforts at implementing the proposed partition plan. In 2011the United States vetoed a resolution which would declare all of the Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory illegal. All other members of the Security Council were in favor of this resolution.
VII. Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_refugee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_194
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Partition_Plan_for_Palestine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tashbih_Sayyed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_League
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_nationalism
http://israelipalestinian.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000573
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/Declaration%20of%20Establishment%20of%20State%20of%20Israel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Israel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_Security_Council_Resolution_242
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_War
http://www.sixdaywar.org/index.asp
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/UN%20Security%20Council%20Resolution%20242
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_refugee_camps
http://jech.bmj.com/content/62/2/91.abstract
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/decad166.asp
Animas High School 3206 North Main Avenue Durango, CO 81301 (970) 247-2474
My Contact Information: [email protected]
Updated on: 2.25.12