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Carolinas Committee on U.S.–Arab Relations NEWSLINES Volume 32, No. 1 The Newsletter of the Carolinas Committee on U.S.-Arab Relations June 2018 An Affiliate of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations In This Issue 1 My “Gateway” to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by Laura Gill, Converse College 4 National Model Arab League 2018 6 Southeast Model Charts New Territory 7 Planting Trees and Building Orchards by Joe P. Dunn 8 The Benefits of Debate: A Call to Support Model Arab League Participation by Christopher Latham Group at Mada’in Saleh al Ula 10 Tunisia Symposium My “Gateway” to the Kingdom 11 Nadia Murad’s The Last Girl: of Saudi Arabia My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the by Laura Gill Islamic State Through my participation in bring international students to the Reviewed by Dr. Joe P. Dunn Model Arab League at Converse Kingdom. This was the last in a se- College, I was nominated by the ries of pilot programs before Gate- National Council on U.S.-Arab Re- way KSA launches its full agenda. lations to participate in a travel The ultimate purpose is to promote Dr. Joe P. Dunn, Director opportunity to Saudi Arabia for cultural understanding and tour- Jenny Dunn, Associate Director nine days this past February. The ism to Saudi Arabia as the country and co-editor of Newslines Carolinas Committee on U.S.–Arab Relations trip was a cultural introduction has just recently opened itself to Converse College to four Saudi cities sponsored by tourist visas. 580 East Main Street Spartanburg, SC 29302 Gateway KSA, an NGO that part- Previously the pilot students ners with the King Faisal Center for had come primarily from a limited Research and Islamic Studies to number of prestige universities. (continued on page 2) NEWS AND ARTICLES not go at the last minute. When the opportunity opened for me, I had to scramble to get my first Passport. To say that this was all somewhat daunting would be an understatement. I arrived on Feb- ruary 18th with two of the other National Council students. We were met by representatives from the King Faisal Center and imme- diately interviewed by the Saudi television station Rotana which would follow us during the entire trip. Throughout the trip I wore an abaya, a closed robe that covers a woman’s clothes and is gener- ally black. That was also a new experience. The first day we spent at the King Faisal Center learning about the goals and history of the Cen- Laura ter, and we toured the beautiful Al Faisaliyah Center. We finished the day at the Al-Jenadriyah Festival, an annual two-week long Saudi fair, held in a large complex just outside of Riyadh, which high- lights each region of the country. We started at the VIP building to learn a few of the customs. We learned about Saudi Arabian cof- fee, which is flavored by carda- mom, and is completely different from American coffee. It is served in small cups with dates, and it was provided at each building at Laura the event. We saw a sword dance and listened to a few songs, and As I write this, the Gateway KSA were more experienced interna- we toured buildings for the towns website is showing pictures from tional relations students, although of Qassim and for Mecca. The lat- a delegation from the Harvard the social media people were ter was informative because non- University Kennedy School of Pub- largely from cultural studies and Muslims cannot visit this restricted lic Affairs now on a similar trip to communications. holy city. the one I experienced. On my We did not travel from the U.S. The second day we learned adventure, I was one of six under- as a group, so my very first venture about the rise of the third Saudi graduate U.S. students along with outside the United States was as state which is the current country seven “social media influencers” an individual flying on my own to of Saudi Arabia. We traveled to selected from around the world. I Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I was a late Al Masmak fortress, the first place was somewhat of an outlier as a addition because a more expe- conquered by King Abdul Aziz sophomore interior design major rienced Converse student origi- al-Saud, the founder of the pres- when the other undergraduates nally selected for the trip could ent Kingdom, and to Diriyah the 2 NEWS AND ARTICLES home village of the Al-Saud fam- all of the girls were very sweet. governor of the Eastern Province ily. Diriyah is being developed as Next we traveled to Jeddah on and talked about the expanding a tourist attraction. That night we the west coast of the country, the tourist policy as well as the need had dinner at the home of Prince most liberal city in the Kingdom. for increased opportunities for Turki Al-Faisal, chairman of the There we took a boat ride with jobs for the young population of King Faisal Center board of direc- women from a local women’s run- the Kingdom. We toured Aramco, tors, where we asked questions ning group and their families. The the first oil company in Saudi Ara- about the dramatic changes water of the Red Sea is a beautiful bia, including the King Abdul Aziz happening in Saudi Arabia. blue like one would expect in the Center for World Culture, an art The next day we flew to the Caribbean. Because we were far center developed by Saudi Ar- desert at Al Ula to see the old from shore and away from other amco which includes a museum, tombs at Mada’in Saleh, includ- people, we were allowed to wear cinema, library, and archive cen- ing the largest one, Qasr al Faisal. swim suits. That evening we met ter. We finished the day with some We also saw an ancient library, a with women from Effat University, last minute souvenir shopping at a meeting place, and the city all a women’s university. I enjoyed store that had many items from lo- carved into the enormous rocks bonding with them about the un- cal craftsmen as well as a gallery in Al Ula. We also enjoyed a des- usual things that come from our which I particularly enjoyed. ert safari where we rode over the mutual experience at a women’s The last day we debriefed dunes and studied some of the college. Among other things, we with a final interview with Rotana interesting rock formations, in- discussed the struggle for women and feedback to Gateway KSA cluding walls of mud which had to participate in government and on things we enjoyed in the pro- dried into pillars, and a hole in a to gain the right to drive. gram and things we wanted to rock big enough for our car to From Jeddah, we flew to see expanded. It was sad to say drive through. During some free Dammam on the east coast of good bye to everyone. Missing time, some of the other students Saudi Arabia. There we visited two weeks in the middle of the and I climbed one of the rocks in King Abdullah University of Sci- semester at school meant that the desert to watch the sunset. ence and Technology, a gradu- sliding back into my academic One night at the camp in Al Ula ate level institution which attracts courses had its own trauma, but it we met a band of young girls who researchers and scholars from was all worth it as I will never for- perform, sing, and dance. This across the globe. The next day we get this trip and all of its priceless was a wonderful encounter and met Prince Saud bin Nayef, the experiences. Banquet at Royal Military Officers Club 3 NEWS AND ARTICLES National Model Arab League 2018 Adherrahim Foukara, Washington bureau chief of Al Jazeera, was popular as always as the closing speaker. The conference was another successful model for Converse. With awards of outstanding or dis- tinguished in nine of the ten ven- ues, Converse, representing Pales- tine, was the overall Outstanding delegation. Northeastern Univer- sity, representing Yemen, howev- er, was named the Best delega- tion and the American University of Cairo, representing Mauritania, finished third as the Distinguished delegation. These three delega- tions were so dominant that no other school received an overall delegation citation, which was a quite unique experience at the Claudia Coffin interviews with Al Jazeeri Model. The other universities in- cluded Georgia State University, The National Model Arab U.S.-Arab Relations president and the U.S. Military Academy at West League conference was held at CEO, the conference set about Point, Northwestern University, Georgetown University, April 6-8, its business for the next three Brigham Young University, Univer- 2018. Converse provided both days. Besides the eight councils sity of Utah, University of Arkan- the Secretary General (Jessica and the Arab Court of Justice, sas at Little Rock, Roger Williams Morgan) and Assistant Secretary the Joint Crisis Council held a spir- University, John Carroll University, General (Emily Holbert). Following ited exchange over the Saudi/ Adrian College, Hollins University, opening remarks by John Duke UAE feud with and boycott of Texas State at San Marcos, Miami Anthony, the National Council on fellow GCC member Qatar. Dr. University of Ohio, Shawnee State Outstanding Delegation at National Model University, University of Houston Honors College, Kennesaw State University, Mercer University, American University, and Western Kentucky University. Converse enjoyed the unique experience that the Ambassador of the Palestine Liberation Orga- nization to the United States, the Hon.

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