On February 20th and 21st, Ms. Johnston took the North Park Model UN team to the Martin Grove Model UN conference. There were approximately 20 students from all grades participating. At this conference, delegates were placed in teams and had to roleplay different countries, were expected to compete against others to debate various real-world issues. For example, should there be a call for a ceasefire in Gaza? Should Congo legalize same-sex marriage? Should we invest our time and money in space exploration? These, along with many more issues, were brought up in the conference.
The conference started with a roll call. However, unlike typical Model UN procedure, this roll call was different. During the roll call, some delegates showcased a one-minute video depicting their country’s traditions and political perspectives. Some videos were good and some were a bit weird. The team from Great Britain even went so far as to make a rap song about Indian spices. Considering that almost half of the General Assembly was dressed in costumes, such as the pope and his bishops representing Vatican City, the roll call videos were among the least strange things at the conference.
After the roll call, it was finally time to open the debate! The first and most controversial topic was the call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The delegates from Israel and Palestine would be going head to head to decide the fate of the civilians of Palestine. This sensitive and controversial topic was discussed by students with great depth and care from both sides. By the end of the Model UN debate, Palestine was able to extend its borders and retrieve almost all of its lost land.
Harman Ghuman, one of the delegates representing Palestine, stated “It felt like a lot of responsibility but I feel that my team and I represented the nation to the best of our ability, as it deserves, and we made a lot of progress towards the Palestinian cause. It was very nerve-racking but overall delightful.”
The first day and the second continued with the passing of multiple amendments. Student representatives from all different countries debated and discussed topics of great importance and sometimes the debates got heated – as they often do at Model UN. So, of course, there was some aggressive yelling here and there. Sometimes students acting as security guards got involved and the chairs of the Model UN had to intervene to calm everyone and everything down. They did a good job and lots of interesting ideas were debated.
Unfortunately, at this conference North Park did not place for any awards, but Martin Grove MUN was a memorable experience for the students. For now, congratulations to all North Park MUN delegates for putting yourself out there and make sure to stay updated for more covers on Model UN conferences.
Shoutout to all North Park Delegates that attended the conference: Jeevan Dhindsa, Harman Ghuman, Earagan Nimalan, Meliya Turna, Kashi Bhaskar, Kayara Madan, Arav Kumar, Noor Gill, Tegh Sekhon, Breya Gandhi, Janga Chhatwal, Navroop Mandair, Irsheen Sandhu, Jeel Soni, Kashi Bhaskar, Dhruv Kumar, Param Patel, Shashank Kumar, and Kanishka Patel.
THE NORTH STAR 