Palestinian-Israeli citizen calling for peace, making her voice heard through Online Model United Nations [guest post]

by | Dec 10, 2013 | Guest Bloggers, International, Online Learning, Youth and Media | 7 comments

I have a dream, I dream of a world with no racism, with acceptance no matter what religion, colour, language, or ideology.

My name is Salam, I am 18 years old, and I was rejected my entire life by the people around me, something that made me so insecure.

I was born in a country that defines itself by religion. I was treated differently because of my religion, because of the way I dress. Basically, because I was not Jewish, I was never welcomed in the state of Israel, even though I am an Israeli citizen!

There is a whole wide community of undefined citizens just like me. I am a Muslim Arab that wanted to make my voice heard – to share my story and help my community – and found the perfect opportunity through this inspiring great program called Model United Nations.

I had a dream but I didn’t have a voice until I joined the Online Model United Nations program!

Why is this program so important to me?

Well for the first reason that it accepts anyone no matter who they are, for the first time in my life I felt like I was welcomed to something, that people actually accepted me for who I am. I was part of a greater community, and I felt comfortable sharing my story.

All the conflicts facing the world today could be easily solved by sharing our stories together, by meeting one another, because most humans are led by their government or leaders who decide for them who they are, but human nature tends toward a peaceful safe environment, deep down inside all human beings are the same, nobody cares about religion or colour or anything else for that matter, all these titles that were given to separate us, we all eventually just want to live a happy peaceful life.

And that can’t be done unless people realize who they really are. All people around the world should share their stories, especially in this time when it’s just a click away to communicate with anyone, anywhere.

Even though the status quo over here is somehow steady, I shouldn’t be afraid of sharing my story because it might jeopardize it, neither does anyone else, nobody should be forced to live hand to mouth, we all should share our stories. It’s the thing that gets us closer!

And we shouldn’t just not care about each other, I mean when I share my story I would love to get a response from someone else, telling me their story and how they can relate.

O-MUN gave me a voice, and the chance to meet students from all around the world and share my story, not just online but also in international conferences. I never thought I would meet students from Islamic and Arabian countries before, but I am so glad I did because it changed my whole perspective. Most things that are presented to us by the media are not true, we can’t jump into conclusion or start a conflict based on a misleading statement.

So let’s take an advantage of the Internet and let it unite us, such an incredible online program that united me with students from all around the world.

Hopefully someday we can all look over our differences, live together peacefully and create our own superior united government that unites us all.

We all should be free to be who we want.

Thanks to O-MUN for making my dream seem more realistic and achievable. And, of course, for the person behind all of this, Ms. Lisa Martin!

Now it’s your turn to share your story!

Sharing my story at Qatar Leadership Conference 2013 and Pictures from conferences and programs I joined.

 

Previously in this series

Salam Keadan is 18 years old. She is one of the Middle East and Africa Assistant Directors at O-MUN and hopes to study Liberal Arts at TAU International, She has recently started an O-MUN club at her school, Al-Qasemi High School in Baqa al-Gharbiyye, Israel.

You can find her on Facebook and share your story!