The European International Model United Nations

Newsletter June 2010Contents: Social and Cultural Events | A Story without an End | World Cup| Has Bakker Unveiled |Contents: Social and Cultural Events | A Story without an End | World Cup| Has Bakker Unveiled |

Honourable delegates,

Although TEIMUN is of course well-known because of the highstanding intel-lectual component of the conference, our social programme is also famed! This year won’t be an exception. It will be every bit as good as last year, yes, we dare even say better! Below, we shall give you a unique glance behind the scenes…

The kick-off of TEIMUN 2010 will be in style, celebrating the beginning of TEI-MUN elegantly during our fi rst night. The glittery theme for our premier party is ‘From Hollywood to Bollywood’, which promises you a night to remember! Ladies, dress up in your most exquisite dresses and put on the highest heals you have! Make sure you look as stunning as Cameron Diaz and as sexy as Angelina Jolie… Honourable men, are you worthy of walking next to all the beauty of TEIMUN 2010? Show us how eager you truly are and look fl ashingly hot!

This year there is an extra touch to the already epic TEI-MUN conference: the World Cup competition! Traditionally, we have arranged the Global Village evening, where you can wear your national attires and show off your national dancemoves. You will have the wonderful opportunity to in-dulge yourself in the cultures of your fellow delegates. The festivities will continue with the semi-fi nal of the World Cup that will be shown on a large screen. May the best country win and better yet, may all the national colours run ram-pant this night!

Eventhough, we look forward to all the above mentioned activities, the most amazing party of the entire conference is….the Orange Party! Every year on the 31st of April, the Dutch celebrate their Queen. The last name of the Dutch Royal family is ‘Van Oranje’, translated ‘Of Orange’. Therefore, we all dress up in this national colour and we party all day and all night long. Ofcourse, we don’t want you to miss out on all the fun and since we are so good at simu-

lating, we will simulate Queensnight for you! Our slogan? ‘The more orange, the better!’

We would like to go out with a bang, so the last party will be the Caribbean Beach party! Starting off with the notorious an-

nual soccer match between the Board and the Staff, you will have to pick a side and cheer for your favourite players. Although not a world cup match, it is ought to be a game of world class. After this tiring physical effort, we can all sit down, relax and enjoy the Dutch beach over a nice BBQ. You might be wondering, is that it? And we wonder, do you take us for fools? In order to celebrate the solutions to all of the world’s problems that we have accomplished, we have arranged a swinging band to provide you with the necessary music to accompany your dancing skills. This is your last chance to shine, so show us all that you have got!

Next to all the wild parties, there is a more seducing, cultural pro-gramme of events. We have organized several cultural excursions to give you a chance to explore everything the Netherlands has to offer. For example, you can go on a trip to our capital, Amsterdam, for an amazing af-ternoon, or perhaps you are more into art and dying to see all the famous paintings by the Dutch Masters in the Mauritshuis, and if you want to catch a glimpse of all of Holland at once, join us for a trip to the miniature city Madurodam!

See you at the fi fth of July!

The latest chapter in the long sto-ry of Israel and its prob-lematic rela-tion with the Palestinian people be-gan taking shape last Monday. Is-raeli naval commandos stormed a fl otilla carrying aid intended for Palestinians in Gaza, leaving at least 19 people dead in the resulting violence. The fl otilla, which consisted out of six ships, was an initiative of the Free Gaza Movement. This international hu-man rights organization intends to “break the siege of Gaza” by raising international awareness about the prison-like closure of the Gaza Strip and pressure the international community to re-view its sanctions policy and end its support for continued Israeli occupation.

The fl otilla which left Cyprus the other week was carrying activists from all over the world, but most of them had the Turkish national-ity. Therefore, by raiding the fl o-tilla Israel seems not only to fur-ther deteriorate its relationship (if there already was any) with the Palestinians, but with the entire international community

and, most notably, Turkey. Turk-ish Prime Minister Erdogan en-titled the Israeli action as “state terrorism”. He claims the whole situation proofs that Israel does not want peace at all in Gaza. Is-rael claimed it was just defend-ing itself, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) saying the soldiers’ lives were in danger after they were attacked with “severe physical violence, including live fi re, weapons, knives and clubs.” After many heads of states fol-lowed Erdogan by condemning the attack, a meeting of the UN Security Council was called for. After a long meeting the Coun-cil condemned the attack as well and demanded an independent investigation. Whatever the out-come of such an investigation will be, Israel is in big trouble once again. The whole situation has angered people from all over the world. The result: Israeli Em-bassies in several countries had to welcome a not so nice visit from large groups of protestors, all demanding Israel to stop the suppression of the Palestinian people.

Furthermore, the international community demanded of Is-rael to release all the activists which were taken capture, which amounts to a total of over 600 people. On Wednesday, two days after the raid, the fi rst captives

were released, but by now it is already expected that at least 50 captives will have to stay in Is-rael for a longer, undetermined period of time. These are the people who are suspected of using violence when the Israeli commandos went on board.

All in all, the attack on the fl o-tilla seems to further isolate Is-rael and it will become harder to fi nd people who support their cause over that of the Palestinian people. What will happen next? No-one can ever be sure, but as this chapter in Israeli history is not written completely yet, it is probably safe to say that the overall story will not have an ending anytime soon.

A Story without an End...

TEIMUN and the World CupApart from high-level debating and getting familiar with the UN and all its facets, cultural integration is one of the most important and fun parts of TEIMUN. And what better way than celebrating and getting to know each other’s cultures by enjoying one of the world´s most important sporting events together; the Football World Cup 2010. This year’s semi-fi nals will take place on the 6th and 7th of July. With more than half of the countries that participate in the World Cup rep-resented at TEIMUN 2010, we are likely to be watching these matches in a colorful and exciting setting. The fi rst semi-fi nal is followed by one of TEIMUNs fa-mous theme parties, but the night of the second s e m i - f i n a l will be dedi-cated entirely to the match.

Has Bakker is a 24 year old gradu-ate student in Confl ict Studies and Human Rights at the Utrecht Uni-versity. Before, he obtained a bach-elor’s degree in International Rela-tions and International Organization

at the University of Groningen. Some of you may already know Has, since he is a true TEIMUN veteran. Has participated in TEIMUN 2006 and 2007, co-organized TEIMUN 2008 as a member of the Board, and is a current member of the TEIMUN Su-pervisory Board. At the moment Has resides in New York City, where he is working as an intern at the Perma-nent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations. His friends and family are all under the impression that Has is busy 24/7, monitoring critical developments in the Security Council. We know Has a little better than that and decided it was time for a little interview to see what’s really going on overthere.

Your busy schedule allows sud-den in-dept interviews?

Well, for TEIMUN I make time, of course. TEIMUN was a big part of my life and still, I am highly inter-

ested. So when TEIMUN knocks on my door, I can only do one thing and that is to open that door. Besides, although

it’s hard work, I can always fi nd a moment to do something else than saving the world at the UN.

How come you decided to apply for an internship at the UN?

There were more reasons actu-ally. The stories of former TEIMUN board and staff members were very exciting and interesting. Everyone was so enthusiastic. And for a long time, I wanted to learn more about the work of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Na-tions. Of course, I have to admit, it wasn’t too bad that the internship was based here in New York. It truly is the capital of the world.

So what exactly are you doing there?

I am interning at the Political De-partment of the Netherlands Mis-sion to the UN. This means that I am following all the Security Coun-cil meetings that deal with Africa. Also, I attend meetings from the Peacebuilding Commission, and the General Assembly when it dis-cusses disarmament matters. In that context I am part of the Dutch Delegation to the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference that is taking place right now. Lastly, I did a lot of work on the concept of the Responsibility to Protect, a very in-teresting idea that is getting more and more attention.

What does a regular day at the Permanent Mission look like?

Usually I have to be at work at 8.30 AM. For me, living in Harlem, this means that I get up at around 7 AM. Two times a week we have a staff meeting at 9 AM, usually fol-lowed by meetings at the UN from 10 AM until 1 PM and from 3 PM until 6 PM. What I do during my lunch break depends a bit on the UN schedule. Sometimes there are

some interesting discussions tak-ing place, other times I just gather in a park with my friends and col-leagues. In the evening I try to

do something relaxing; I go to a concert, visit a sports game or play some soccer and have a beer with the team.

To what extent do your real life experiences at the UN differ from what you experi-enced at the various TEIMUN conferences in which you participated?

To be honest, a MUN is much more fun than the ‘real’ UN. At the UN, all the delegates are or-ganized in regional groups. So it’s more the European Union, the Non-Aligned Movement or the G77 speaking, than all coun-tries speaking in their national capacities, like at TEIMUN. Also, at TEIMUN there are real and in-teresting discussions going on, where at the UN a lot of countries just read their prepared state-ment. Of course, at the UN it is all about interests of the different countries, so it’s not so surpris-ing that it can be a little bit more boring and bureaucratic than the meetings at TEIMUN. One thing that is the same though, is the diplomat life. Having a chat and a drink together after the meet-ing is adjourned is as important

at the UN as it is at TEIMUN.

Has Bakker Unveiled

“To be honest, a MUN is much more fun than the ‘real’ UN.”

“I can always fi nd a moment to do some-thing else than saving the world at the UN.”

Your TEIMUN journal-ists: Sonny Motké, Sophie den Held and Marius Temming

Do you think participating in TEIMUN made you a better intern?

Absolutely. I learned so much about the UN and about the diplomat life during all the TEIMUN con-ferences. The fact that you are familiar with the UN, its documents and its charter, makes life as an intern really easier. Next to that, dealing with all the different cultures, languages and people is something I learned as a participant and Board member of TEIMUN.

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned in the past four months?

That many things are wrong, or not going that well at the UN, but that it is a very important organi-zation which we have to improve with our bright ideas. The UN is a forum where all countries in the world speak to, and with, each other and that is something we have to cherish. This does not mean we have to close our eyes for all the things that do not work, or that we have to cover up and ig-nore the mistakes of the UN. We, the people of the world, have the ability, through our national gov-ernments, to make change a reality. I believe that when all the member states of the UN take their responsibility, we can make the UN work.

Thank you for this interview, take care, and we hope to see you in The Hague in July.

I am sure I will visit some of the fabulous TEIMUN parties and see all the delegates having the time of their life!