Doha: Qatar Debate, a member of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, in collaboration with the Abbasi Center for Islamic Studies at Stanford University, concluded the third edition of the US Universities Arabic Debating Championship with the participation of 40 teams.
The championship, in which 16 new universities were participating for the first time, aimed to build partnerships with prestigious universities known for their scientific and cultural advancement and openness worldwide. It is also to create a supportive environment for coexistence, especially with 250 debaters from different cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds who are united by the language of dialogue and debate.
The Duke University team, represented by Zainab Mokhtar, Dana Younis, Majid Al Munaifi, and Saad Al Huraishi, emerged as champions, while Harvard University's team, represented by Reem Ali, Iman Al Shouk, Heballah Muhammad, and Caleb King, were the runners-up.
The two finalists debated the topic: "Whether this Council believes that the fight against climate change should include international action against sovereign states that allow environmental violations to act directly or negligently."
As for the best Arabic language speaker of the championship, Majid Al Menifi from Duke University was the winner, while Suad Al Gohary from the University of Illinois was second.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, the Outreach Programs Manager at Qatar Debates, Abdulrahman Al Subaie, praised the third extraordinary meeting with partners in the USA.
He pointed out the importance of such tournaments in upholding an attitude of dialogue and reason, in light of the violence and intolerance the world is witnessing.
"After three years of fruitful cooperation between the Qatar Foundation, represented by Qatar Debate, and a number of prestigious American universities, we are standing on a balance of achievements and an accumulation of experience. We have reached a level of balance reflected in every tournament and event we conduct, and in every agreement, we sign and every request for cooperation we receive, "Al Subaie said.
He expressed his happiness to see young people discussing common global issues in Arabic on American soil.
Qatar Debate is committed to promoting the culture of dialogue and debate worldwide, as well as committed to developing knowledge, evaluating experience, and taking it to new and wider horizons, Qatar Debate is pleased that today the members of the first batch of Qatar Debate Fellowship Program of Expert Researchers are holding their first meeting on the campus of Stanford University, launching twelve qualitative research projects that will add a lot to the field of debate in its broadest sense.
The center's Ambassador, Mohammed Al Lakhn Al Marri, presented an introductory workshop to all participants as a reminder of the rules of the tournament, including the rules of conduct and competition, the basics of debate, and answering their questions and concerns.
The second workshop was presented by QD's trainer, Saad Al Assad, to the judges and related to all the aspects that benefit them as international judges. Before the tournament, they reviewed the concepts and standards using a specific test that classified judges based on their different levels, as well as discussed any potential cases.
