Students test their diplomacy skills

by The Daily Inter Lake
| June 9, 2014 8:30 PM

One hundred seventeen students, representing 38 countries and political groups, attempted to solve the Israeli-Palestinian and Syrian crisis in the Middle East during a United Nations simulation at Flathead High School.

The May 22 simulation caps Middle East studies in four honors Western Civilization classes taught to sophomores by Lauren Gustafson and Pat Reilly.

Students debated, negotiated, drafted and voted on resolutions addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and current crisis in Syria through United Nations procedures. With a majority vote, the assembly passed six resolutions, according to a press release.

Delegates came to a consensus that included state division of Israel and Palestine, giving each country equal land and water rights in addition to dismantling the barrier wall.

Regarding Syria, delegates passed resolutions to create a protected area for Syrian refugees, no-fly zones above Syria and sanctions against Syria until the Bashar al-Assad regime is dismantled and a democratic regime initiated.

Juniors Eli Cornell, Wyatt McGillen, Daniel Olszewski and Kelsey Weed acted as moderators of the proceedings and selected several standouts for awards.

Awards are:

Best Followed Parliamentary Procedure — Syria (Wyatt Dykhuizen, Morgan Hill and Kyren Hanson) and Palestine (Mason Devries, Lois Fetveit and Colton Dugan)

Best Represented/Emulated the Ideals of Assigned Country/Political Party — Hezbollah (Lina Bishop, Emily Dardis and Jace Darrow) and Hamas (Pascale Yacovone and Janeigh Lowry)

Most Involved — France (Kye AuClaire, Madison Commers and Luke Barron); China (Eli Brown, Amalia Csaplar and Daniel Vinogradov) and Al-Qaeda (Makenna Marvin, Darby Mackenstadt and Chloe Marum)

Best Author of a Resolution — Canada (William Thompson, Kendra Wilke and Alaya Wood) and Afghanistan (Lauren Bridges, Morgan Corkish and Lane Darrow)

Honorable Delegation Recognized for Overall Hard Work — Azerbaijan (Anthony Wright, Liz Lorentz and Marisa Postovit) and Iran (Lauren Crose, Garrett McAllister and Elena Ploot)