The Taif
Agreement: A Resolution for a Conflict?
13 June 2018
Conflicts and wars have always been
part of the human history. They erupt for many reasons,
yet eventually they come to an end with suggested
resolutions that hold such conflicts in check; however,
sometimes these resolutions may not be considered the
best solutions to resolve such crises. Bearing this in
mind, Grade 10 students tackled the concepts of
‘conflicts’ and ‘resolutions’ in an attempt to answer
the unit question: To what extent may resolutions end
conflicts? They deliberated this question on three
different dimensions: Global, Regional and Local. Those
three dimensions helped learners enrich their knowledge
with different types of reasons that could lead to
conflicts and with different ways of cease-fire.
On the local level dimension, Grade 10 students delved
into tackling the Lebanese civil war (1975-1989),
exploring its causes and effects in their history and
Social Studies classes. Moreover, in the literature
classes, the learners read and commented on the first 28
nightmares from Ghada Samman’s novel, Beirut Nightmares,
which is a fictional account of a young woman who lived
the atrocities of this civil clash while being trapped
in her apartment due to the continuous shelling and the
snipers who were scattered around the neighborhood. In
reality, the nightmares of this war ended with the Taif
agreement, which was signed by all the political parties
involved at that time.
After 29 years of signing this agreement, our students
participated in an ad hoc (special committee) as part of
a performance task that revolves around evaluating the
efficiency of this agreement and examining the reforms
that were implemented at that time. To this end, the
students took mainly the roles of Arab states including
Lebanon where they suggested striking out parts of the
Taif or amending the resolution.
The academic atmosphere of discussing such a critical
topic couldn’t be but an inspiration and aspiration for
a better conflict-free future not only in our country
but also in the region as a whole. This task offered our
learners a platform to debate and to discuss the
different perspectives in a highly diplomatic and
peaceful way. May this task be a significant stride
towards preparing open-minded, responsible and
principled citizens who will one day hopefully play a
role in preserving this nation’s unity.
Hiba Chamandi, Nagham Abou Ali and
Amira Hariri ~Grade 10 Teachers |