The war with Iraq is a hot topic, on the street, in the news, and on college campuses. Some Iowa college students are preparing to discuss the war and its implications — from the perspective of Arabs — during the upcoming annual Great Plains Model Arab League. Dr. Raymond Weiss is coordinator of the event, held every year at Northwestern College in Orange City. Weiss says like the Model United Nations, this event consists of teams who’ve chosen a country and will act as if they come from that part of the world and speak for that country in the event, whether they happen in real life to agree with its views or not. This year, he says “ought to be very interesting” because they must do their best to model the “real” Arab League, which is in strong disagreement. Weiss once lived in Iraq and he created the Iowa chapter of the Model Arab League a dozen years ago. Dr. Hubert Krygsman of Dordt College will open this year’s Model Arab League with a keynote address about what peace would look like in the Middle East region. Krygsman says there are many difficult questions that must be resolved, about what the Middle East will look like, whether it can create a civil society and do so on its own terms. The event opens Thursday and wraps up with a final plenary session Saturday.
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