Debate for Peace delegation to Oxford MUN  

By Eliran Ben Yair

Hey, my name is Eliran and I an 16 year old from Petah Tikva in Israel. This post is about our delegation to Oxford Global MUN last fall.

On November 15th we arrived in the UK after a nice flight.

We went to our hostel in the middle of the night, so all of us fell asleep during the walking. The weather was cold(very cold!) but even at night the view was amazing.

We woke up very early and we started the day with a very busy schedule: we went to the amazing US embassy building and we met the staff who work on youth engagement and CVE (countering violent extremism), then we went to meet a middle east specialist at the embassy and after that we had a beautiful tour in the embassy building.

After that we went to the Kosovo embassy and we had a great discussion with the Charge  d’Affaires (Heronia Telaku) and we ate a good lunch.

We took the train to our Airbnb in Oxford and at this moment we felt the stress… We knew that one of the biggest MUN conferences we have ever done is starting tomorrow and we will do our best in order to achieve an award!

 

We started the next day with a Juma’a prayer in the Muslim Center of Oxford and from there we went to the conference.

Students from all over the world came! From India, Canada, France and many more countries!

Me and my friends from DFP were very excited! We went to our committees and then the magic started.

The conference was very hard but eventually we all had a lot of fun.

I won’t tell about each one of the days because it was too long but all I can say is that at the end we brought a lot of pride to Debate for Peace because our group got the biggest number of awards!

W E    G O T  7 A W A R D S ! ! ! !

Everyone smiled and we were so happy!

After the conference we were hosted in the Jewish community. We visited the most amazing school I have ever seen in my life, “JCOSS“ school and we had some great discussions there with the students.

We toured a lot, we visited the Parliament, we went to the “Conciliation Resources” NGO, to meet the Behavioral insights team, we went back to the synagogue and then we came back home a day after.

This delegation to the UK was the best delegation I’ve ever had in my life.

I loved the UK and the people! I loved the amazing tours and the people we met!

I love the way we had a lot of cultural experiences with my friends and the most important things for me is the I am very happy that I won second place in my committee because it gave me the best excuse to go back next year!

Thank you for reading.

 

 

My name is Amit Davidovich, I am a high school student and soon to be 16.

As a teenager, I am always taught by adults to take responsibility.

I am taught to consider every step I take because each decision has consequences. I am taught to take care of others and to contribute as much as possible.

It is all nice, in theory, but these “adults” do not do everything they keep telling me.

When the government does not prevent sales of disposable plastic crockery or does not put too much effort into providing proper public transportation they do not set a good example.

I am part of a generation which will have to deal with all of the difficulties caused by the Climate Crisis. I know that my government has failed its job to take care, to think wisely, to take responsibility for their actions.

A few weeks ago, a Sweden teen named Greta Thunberg, started to strike. Hundreds of thousands joined her all around the world, from Belgium, England and Italy to name just a few countries.

The strike is the protest: we demand more, we require renewable energy; we care about ourselves and our future children.

 

We, as the Israeli youth are obligated to spread what Greta started, and so we did.

I am part of the leading group here in Israel. We gathered more than 1000 students in the first strike and it is called Strike For Future all around the world.

We will keep protesting until we can assure our future. Within 12 years the world will arrive at a certain point from which there is no way back unless we change ourselves. We all have bad habits, but disregarding the ongoing climate change issue is the worst.

On the yearly Climate March, we marched together, unified and powerful. We were 2000 students demanding a better world, clean air and a better future.

We are not green organizations or activists. We are citizens of the world who unfortunately have to protest for clean air.

This whole journey for me so far has been inspiring. We were heard in places I had never thought I could reach. We understood that it is bigger than conflicts, it is bigger than our country.

We understood we can achieve something which can make an actual difference.

Yes, the last few weeks have been busier than ever. In addition to the protest, we are high school students with all the pressure that comes with that. However, it was satisfying.

We are not done yet, there is still so much work to be done. We will continue to strike and protest till we get what we deserve. We deserve to keep living, to have children, to enjoy the benefits of our amazing planet while respecting and keeping it.