Model United Nations members are preparing for a national conference amid controversy and conflict within the organization.

Way of life

By Sasha Leitner

This article is one of the winning submissions to the New York Post Scholars competition, presented by Command Education.

Growing up in a diverse place like New York gave me the opportunity to immerse myself in other cultures, hear different languages, and see different faces on every street corner. My love for learning about others has been driven by my ability to experience so many different perspectives throughout my life. This fueled my interest in international relations and inspired me to become an active member of the Model United Nations (MUN) club at my public high school.

MUN has become one of the most sought-after after-school programs since our club attended the National High School Model United Nations (NHSMUN) conference last year and won the First Place Distinction Award for Research and Preparation . Entering my second year at MUN with a leadership role as Treasurer, I am inspired to work with my peers, both within the club and globally, to imagine a world built on the founding principles of the United Nations : maintain international peace and security. and promote human rights for all.

However, as this year’s NHSMUN conference approaches, I struggle to make the most of this experience while recognizing the unwavering sense of pain and distress that the UN has caused my fellow Jews. The October 7 attack on Israel proved to be a crucial turning point for Jews both in the United States and abroad. Its aftermath made life as a Jewish teenager in New York difficult and emotional in ways I had never experienced before. I now worry about discussions that might arise around the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict or about the Jewish people, given the increasing levels of anti-Semitism and the sense of fear and intimidation that Jews have begun to feel throughout of our everyday lives. I find it difficult to understand that in 2023, Israel has been reprimanded by the United Nations General Assembly in 14 resolutions, while in the same period there have only been seven resolutions against all other countries in the world united. How is it possible ? In one way or another, Israel deserves to be challenged by the UN much more than Iran? Russia? North Korea? Countries where oppression and violence exist on an unimaginable scale. There is no logic to explain this other than to confront a painful truth: the UN has animosity toward Jews and holds Israel to different standards than other countries.

As if this were not painful enough, amid the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7, there are now credible allegations that members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in The Middle East Agency (UNRWA), the agency responsible for providing relief and support for Palestinian refugees, took part in the terrorist attack. This shocking revelation exposed a truly dark side of the UN and helped undermine UNRWA’s ability to help Palestinians when they need it most. Although I still plan to attend this year’s conference, I do so with a conflicted heart and ask myself: how can I advocate for peace, justice and security then that the very institutions charged with upholding these ideals have failed to do so for Jews? For MUN participants like me, the observation of these failures casts doubt on the very principles and values ​​that are discussed at MUN conferences. However, despite these revelations, I move past the disappointment and pursue a mission I believe in, trying to be the change I want to see happen.

Given my own doubts, I wonder how my peers feel about the approach to NHSMUN, or if they are thinking about it, or even if they know anything about the current situation. In speaking with my school’s MUN president, he shared the following with me: “Despite my position in the Model UN, I am rarely one to defend the UN. That being said, as President and a proud Jew, I not only support (our school) NHSMUN, but also continued aid to UNRWA, and applaud the actions of Ireland and Spain regarding funding of the agency. Their position in helping the Palestinian people is unique, especially after the ICJ’s conclusion that a plausible genocide in the Gaza Strip was concluded.”

This view differs from my own regarding UNRWA, but rather than reject it, I will embrace it. The importance of MUN is understanding how countries, with representatives of different viewpoints, attempt to make decisions that they believe will benefit their populations. Although it is easier said than done, my difference of opinion with the president of my school’s MUN club shows how members of the UN encounter very different points of view on complex subjects and that There will inevitably be disagreements. I hope that as MUN members representing the next generation, we are all guided by pure intention in seeking peaceful solutions, even if that means disagreeing on how to get there. I refuse to allow myself to feel cynical, even knowing that the UN’s actions towards Israel clearly show that the UN has lost sight of its founding principles.

Despite my apprehension, my sense of purpose in participating in NHSMUN is changed in a more positive way. I look forward to meeting new people and learning from this experience. I am confident that many of the people I will meet at the conference will be part of the next generation of leaders, policymakers and advocates for change and improvement. My peers and I have a responsibility to foster empathy, conversation, and effective collaboration to address the root causes of conflict and support human rights for all. In doing so, I hope they will prioritize the security and stability of all who call the Holy Land home and approach the issue without obvious bias.

Despite my internal conflict, I participate in NHSMUN with an open mind, hoping to promote constructive dialogue. The alternative is simply not an option. As Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in “Stride Toward Freedom”: “(Violence) leaves society in a monologue rather than a dialogue. Violence ultimately destroys itself. This creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers. » I simply cannot accept a post-war reality in which the bitterness of Gaza survivors ends in increased hatred toward Israel or in which the brutality of Hamas and the IDF continues to rage. My heart may be conflicted, but my hope and belief remain. Recognizing this, I am convinced that my fellow MUN participants and I have an obligation to learn from the past and current failures of the UN in order to demonstrate the type of leadership that the world desperately needs.

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An 11th grade student at the Institute for Collaborative Education in Manhattan, Leitner hopes to work in communications in the film or music industry.