Step 1 - Team Formation

• The class will be divided into 5 committee groups of equitable geographic representation (Africa & Mideast, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America/Others)
  
  
• The committee will be composed of at least 5 members and will be required to elect a president and vice president.
  
  
• The primary responsibility of each group will be to gain a thorough understanding of the historical roots and modern origins of the conflict.

Now get ready to transform yourselves into the role of a UN fact finder!

 

Step 2 - (Investigation/Historical Roots of the Conflict)

As an important member of the UN fact finding commision your primary responsibility will be to research the facts associated with the conflict.

You are asked to maintain neutrality during your investigation (impartial observer) and avoid personal biases as much as possible.

You will individually be asked to review a set of online Resources on the resource page and as a group discuss and answer the questions provided in Worksheet 1. It is recommended that each individual read all the resource articles and collaborate to answer the questions.

Please refer to the Self Assessment and Peer Assessment Rubrics in the Evaluation Section and fill them out upon completion of the task. You will be required to submit a peer rubric for each individual member of your group as well as the self assessment form.

 

Step 3 - (Researching the Major Issues/Barriers to Peace)

Each group will then be asked to research one of the five major issues or barriers to a final negotiated settlement between the warring factions. These encompass:

Group 1- Border Disputes
Group 2- Jerusalem
Group 3- Water
Group 4- Settlements
Group 5- Refugees

Each group will be assigned an issue by the Secretary General.

There will be approximately 10 Resource Links per issue to divvy up among the members. As a committee answer the pertinent categorized questions per Worksheet 2.

Please refer to the Self Assessment and Peer Assessment Rubrics in the evaluation section and fill them out upon completion of the task. You will be required to submit a peer rubric for each individual member of your group as well as the self assessment form.

 

Step 4 - (Presenting the Historical Facts and Major Issues)

Upon completion of the first and second tasks , an Emergency Special Session will convene at the mid-term whereby each group's president will be required to orally present, explain and discuss the group's findings as well as make any recommendations to the Secretary General (Secretariat) and the entire assembly based upon the research completed to this point.

You will compile the information for your presentation utilizing both worksheets as well any journal entry discoveries . A powerpoint presentation is required.

Please refer to the grading Rubric in the Evaluation section of this webquest for the oral presentation criteria. You are required to submit your completed Self assessment and Peer Assessment rubrics from the group collaboration activities (Steps 2 & 3) to the Secretary General/instructor upon completion of the presentation.

 

Step 5 - (Take a Stand )

After analyzing and discussing all the facts and major issues as well as considering any committee recommendations, the Secretary General as well as the entire assembly are required to convene a session of the UN Security Council to propose a resolution.

As elected representatives of the world community you will be asked to collaborate and create a well composed and reasoned draft peace proposal that will bring about security for both sides and ensure a just and enduring resolution to the conflict.

All the presidents of each General Assembly committee will now become the 5 permanent members of the Security Council (Russia, France, China, UK, US). All remaining individuals that were part of the General assembly will default and become the elected members of the UN Security Council.

 

Step 6 - (Class Discussion)

Your first order of business as a council is to review and consider the merits of two of the most commonly proposed solutions to ending the conflict:

1) Bi-National State
2) Two State Solution

Review the Solution Resources on the resource page and consider the following questions in preparation for a class discussion:

• Is a single "secular" multi-ethnic state feasible given the strong religious convictions of both cultures?
  
  
• Would it be preferable to have an Israeli state that discriminates in favor of jews and a Palestinian state equally discriminatory or one bi-national state where the majority rule could result in a form of apartheid?
  
  
• Would/could a bi-national state truly be equal and democratic?
  
  
• Is a two state solution possible given the settlements controversy?
  
  
• Which of these solutions is most feasible given the inherent difficulties associated with the conflict as evident in your research?

 

Step 7 - (Choose a Solution)

Upon completion of the class discussion the council will vote upon the best solution to pursue as part of their final peace proposal. Majority vote only will be required (tabulate votes).

 

Step 8 - (Drafting the Peace Proposal)

Once the solution is chosen, in order to ensure that there is structure and order to the written task you are asked to:

• Break up into your original five committee groups.
  
  
• Each group will work a section of the proposal and then collaborate as a council to piece together a final draft . You will notice in the Peace Proposal Template that there are twelve sections with topics. Five of the topics/issues are the same ones each group researched and presented at the mid-term as part of your oral presentation requirement.
  
  
• You are to come up with solutions or provisions to your respective issues explaining how you would go about implementing or enforcing them.
  
  
• You are encouraged to complete or add any sections or topics that might further legitimize your peace proposal. The necessary background knowledge for this will have been provided as a result of the readings.
  
  
• Review some current and former Peace Plan Proposals on the Resources page as well as some actual formal treaties that have been implemented to help generate some ideas.
  
  
• Refer to the Rubric for evaluation criteria and draw upon your worksheets and journal entries to help formulate and support your arguments.
  
  

Step 9 - (Compiling and Voting Upon the Final Product)

Once the groups have collaborated and completed their respective sections of the peace proposal each president (5 perm members) will be responsible for compiling the group's work and putting it into written format utilizing the Peace Proposal Template.

You will submit the draft to the Secretary General via email and he/she will recite the final product to the council.

A final vote will be required of the council for passage of the resolution. Remember a majority vote as well as the 5 concurring votes of the permanent members will be required. Otherwise the status quo will be maintained.

If no consensus is achieved or you were not in total agreement with the final peace plan or some of its provisions, you have the option of individually creating your own peace plan using the same template for guidance and sending it to a nation of choice below for endorsement.

You are to copy the Secretary General of the UN (instructor) who will consider the proposal, make recommendations and possibly convene a special or emergency session of the security council at a later time to revisit the issue.

 

Copy and send your peace proposal to:

- United Nations , The Honorable Kofi Anan, United Nations Secretary-General, Fax: (212) 963-2155 & 963-7055, Email: sg@un.org or ecu@un.org

- United States of America , President George W. Bush, Tel: (202) 456-1111, Fax: (202) 456-2461, The White House, Washington, DC 20500, USA, Email: president@whitehouse.gov

Vice President Dick Cheyney, Vice.President@whitehouse.gov

Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary@state.gov

- Israel , Prime Minister Arial Sharon, Tel: +972-2-705555, Fax: 972-2-664838, Office of the Prime Minister,
3 Rehov Kaplan, Hakirya Jerusalem 91007, ISRAEL, Email: feedback@pmo.gov.il

- Palestine , Chairman Yasser Arafat, Email: info@nmopic.pna.net

- United Kingdom , Prime Minister Tony Blair, Tel: +44-171-270-3000, Fax: +44(207)925-0918, Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street London, SW 1A 2 AA, BRITAIN,
Email: labour-party@geo2.poptel.org.uk

- Egypt , President Mohammed Mubarek, Email: webmaster@presidency.gov.eg

- Russia , President Vladimir Putin, Tel: +7-095-925-3581, Fax: +7-095-205-4219, Office of the Government,
Krasnopresenskaya 2, Moscow, RUSSIA, Email: rusun@undp.org

- China , President Jiang Zemin, Office of the Premier, 225 Chaoyangmennei Dajie, Dongsi Beijing, P. R. CHINA, Email: chnun@undp.org

- France , President Jacques Chirac, Tel: +33-1-4292-8100, Fax: +33-1-4742-2465, Office du President,
55-57 rue du Faubourg, St. Honore 75008 Paris, FRANCE, Email: fraun@undp.org

- India , Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Tel: +91-11-3013040, Fax: +91-11-3016857, Prime Minister's Office South Block, New Delhi 110011, INDIA, Email: indun@undp.org

- Pakistan , Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Office of the President, Islamabad, PAKISTAN telex 5742,
Email: pakistan@undp.org

Pertinent Website Resources

Governments on the WWW: Heads of State

Political Resources on the Net