August 29, 2001

Conflicts of Current Interest
Analyzing Conflicts in News from Around the Globe Using Conflict Resolution Techniques

Grades:  6-8,9-12
Subjects:  Current Events, Geography, Global History, Social Studies

Related New York Times Article
"Powell Will Not Attend Racism Conference in South Africa", By JANE PERLEZ, August 29, 2001

Overview of Lesson Plan: In this lesson, students use conflict resolution tactics to explore the current conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere around the world.

Suggested Time Allowance: 45-60 minutes

Objectives:  Students will:

  1. Reflect on the notion of "conflict;" develop a definition of the term.
  2. Explore the conflict regarding United States representation at the United Nations Conference Against Racism by reading and discussing "Powell Will Not Attend Racism Conference in South Africa."
  3. Analyze the present stages of the conflict in the Middle East, using criteria for conflict resolution.
  4. Assess a conflict elsewhere in the world using conflict resolution criteria.

Resources / Materials:

Activities / Procedures:

  1. WARM-UP/DO-NOW: Students respond to the following questions in their journals (written on the board prior to class): "Think about what the word 'conflict' means to you. In the center of a page in your journal, write the word 'conflict.' Then, write other words around 'conflict' that relate to it, drawing lines between these words and the center word as well as drawing lines among words that are related to each other in some way." After five minutes, ask students to share their responses. What synonyms did students offer? Did students include any people or historic events? Did any of them share personal conflicts? Did any students list emotions? Did students include resolution tactics or ideas? Based on these lists, create a class definition of "conflict" and write it on the board. Compare your class definition to a dictionary's definition (Merriam-Webster's definitions include: "a state of disharmony" and "the opposition or simultaneous functioning of mutually exclusive impulses, desires, or tendencies.") Then, brainstorm examples of conflicts around the world, both current and past, where race is or was the divisive factor.
  2. As a class, read and discuss the article "Powell Will Not Attend Racism Conference in South Africa," focusing on the following questions:
    1. Who will likely not be attending the United Nations conference on racism, and why?
    2. What might the United States do in addition to not sending the Secretary of State to the conference?
    3. Why is the Bush administration protesting the agenda of the conference?
      (the agenda can be downloaded here!
    4. What has the Secretary of State's position on the conference been, according to the article?
    5. Who else opposes the conference, and why?
    6. Who supports the conference, according to this article, and why?
    7. What did President Bush mean when he said delegates "pick on Israel"?
    8. What did Reverend Jackson mean when he said the United States is "abdicating responsibility"?
    9. What does the location of the conference have to do with the Secretary of State's decision not to attend?
    10. What are the State Department's critiques of the Arab countries involved with the conference?
    11. How does the Bush administration plan to address the next United Nations conference?
    12. What is the topic of the next conference?
    13. What are some specific concerns the Bush administration has with that conference?
    14. How many countries are involved in conference that begins September 19, 2001?
  3. Engage students in a basic background discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What do students know about the history of the conflict? What are some of the main causes of the conflict? How have tensions erupted in violence in the past year? You may wish to address the following terms in your discussion: Zionism (a movement, rooted in 19th century philosophy, that successfully sought to establish a Jewish state in Palestine), nationalism (the belief that state and nation should be congruent), anti-Semitism (hostility or discrimination against Jews), and racism (the belief in one group of people is superior to another based on race).
    Then, divide students into five or six small groups, and assign each group a current article about the current conflict in the Middle East that you have pre-selected from The New York Times on the Web's section on the Middle East (http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/middleeast/index.html). Explain to students that they will be training in conflict resolution, analyzing this hostile situation using the same criteria that mediators and diplomats use. Give students approximately ten minutes to read their articles in their groups, then work together to finish the following seven sentences, or "conflict criteria" (written on the board for easier student access; students can write several "endings" for each sentence, as appropriate, to thoroughly express their ideas):
    • This conflict is about...
    • Those directly involved in this conflict are...
    • The relationship between or among those in conflict is...
    • Others who might be affected by this conflict are...
    • The cause(s) of this conflict is/are...
    • The steps being taken to resolve this conflict are...
    • The steps that should be taken to resolve this conflict are...

    After ten minutes, have students share and compare their responses with the class in an open discussion.
  4. WRAP-UP/HOMEWORK: Using the "conflict criteria" used in class to examine the conflict in the Middle East, each student looks through today's newspaper and clips an article about another current conflict (global, national, or local) and analyze the conflict. Students should present their examples in a future class.

Further Questions for Discussion:

Evaluation / Assessment:
Students will be evaluated based on written journal responses, participation in class discussions, thoughtful participation in group work and written analyses of the conflict in the Middle East, and written conflict resolution exercise examining another current conflict.

Vocabulary:
boycott, delegation, aides, omit, contentious, preparatory, abdicating, amending, offensive, intransigent, proviso, confer, legitimacy, anti-Semitic, rhetoric, derail, laudable, merits, predecessors, resonance, unclear, emerged, declined, qualms

Extension Activities:

  1. The Bush administration's rejection of the United Nations' language is part of a longer history of conflict between the United States and the United Nations. Research the 1975 United Nations resolution that equated Zionism with racism (repealed in 1991), then analyze the 1978 and 1983 United States boycotts of conferences on racism. How do those boycotts relate to the current conflict? Create an illustrated timeline of your findings.
  2. The topic of globalization has also served as an inflammatory topic in regard to the conference on racism. The United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, referred to globalization as "a trend that has increasingly ugly, xenophobic undertones to it. There is a tendency to demonize those who come to rich societies in search of a better life." Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Write a personal response essay, or debate the topic in class.
  3. The official title of the conference discussed in the article is "The United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance." Create a poster to promote awareness of racism in its various forms around the world.
  4. Create a detailed timeline of the history of the Palestinian region. Because the history of the region is so detailed and lengthy, each student may want to study a specific time period and create a poster about the era of study. The posters can then be arranged chronologically and posted in the classroom for further discussion.
  5. Research the United States' role in peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as its past and present relationships with Israel and other countries in the Middle East. Document your findings in a "Historic Guide to United States Intervention in the Middle East," which includes text, maps, pictures, graphs and any other elements you would like to include.

Interdisciplinary Connections:

Other Information on the Web

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