October 12, 2017
The US (click here) has announced it will withdraw from the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), accusing the body of "anti-Israel bias".
Heather Nauert, US state department spokesperson, said on Thursday the US would establish an "observer mission" to replace its representation at the Paris-based agency.
The US was angered in 2011 when UNESCO members granted Palestine full membership of the body, despite opposition from its ally Israel.
The US opposes any move by UN bodies to recognise the Palestinians as a state, believing that this must await a negotiated Middle East peace deal.
But US President Donald Trump's administration is also reviewing many of its multilateral commitments, pursuing what he calls an "America First" foreign policy.
October 11, 2017
...The move, (click here) which could be announced as early as next week, marks America’s further estrangement from an organization that it helped establish after World War II to widen access to education and ensure the free flow of ideas. The United States will maintain its presence at UNESCO as an observer state....
...The Ronald Reagan administration decided to withdraw from the organization in 1984, at the height of the Cold War, citing corruption and what it considered an ideological tilt toward the Soviet Union against the West. President George W. Bush rejoined the organization in 2002, claiming it had gotten its books an order and expunged some of its most virulent anti-Western and anti-Israel biases.
“America will participate fully in its mission to advance human rights, tolerance, and learning,” he said at the time.
But six years ago, the United States cut off more than $80 million a year, about 22 percent of its entire budget for UNESCO, in reprisal for the organization’s acceptance of Palestine as a member. The Obama administration said it had to cut funds because a 1990s-era law prohibits U.S. funding for any U.N. agencies recognizing Palestine as a state.
Despite the funding cut, the United States remains a member of UNESCO and even has a vote on the executive board, which selects the new director-general. But the United States has and it continues to be charged tens of millions in dues each year, and it has lost its voting rights in UNESCO’s principal decision-making body, which is known as the General Conference. That body approves UNESCO’s budget and establishes a range of programs dealing with education, science, and culture around the globe.
As a result of U.S. funding cuts, U.S. arrears have been swelling each year, surpassing $500 million that’s owed to UNESCO. Tillerson wants to stop the bleeding....
The US (click here) has announced it will withdraw from the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), accusing the body of "anti-Israel bias".
Heather Nauert, US state department spokesperson, said on Thursday the US would establish an "observer mission" to replace its representation at the Paris-based agency.
The US was angered in 2011 when UNESCO members granted Palestine full membership of the body, despite opposition from its ally Israel.
The US opposes any move by UN bodies to recognise the Palestinians as a state, believing that this must await a negotiated Middle East peace deal.
But US President Donald Trump's administration is also reviewing many of its multilateral commitments, pursuing what he calls an "America First" foreign policy.
October 11, 2017
...The move, (click here) which could be announced as early as next week, marks America’s further estrangement from an organization that it helped establish after World War II to widen access to education and ensure the free flow of ideas. The United States will maintain its presence at UNESCO as an observer state....
...The Ronald Reagan administration decided to withdraw from the organization in 1984, at the height of the Cold War, citing corruption and what it considered an ideological tilt toward the Soviet Union against the West. President George W. Bush rejoined the organization in 2002, claiming it had gotten its books an order and expunged some of its most virulent anti-Western and anti-Israel biases.
“America will participate fully in its mission to advance human rights, tolerance, and learning,” he said at the time.
But six years ago, the United States cut off more than $80 million a year, about 22 percent of its entire budget for UNESCO, in reprisal for the organization’s acceptance of Palestine as a member. The Obama administration said it had to cut funds because a 1990s-era law prohibits U.S. funding for any U.N. agencies recognizing Palestine as a state.
Despite the funding cut, the United States remains a member of UNESCO and even has a vote on the executive board, which selects the new director-general. But the United States has and it continues to be charged tens of millions in dues each year, and it has lost its voting rights in UNESCO’s principal decision-making body, which is known as the General Conference. That body approves UNESCO’s budget and establishes a range of programs dealing with education, science, and culture around the globe.
As a result of U.S. funding cuts, U.S. arrears have been swelling each year, surpassing $500 million that’s owed to UNESCO. Tillerson wants to stop the bleeding....
