US to end active membership of Paris-based UNESCO


The US has said it is to withdraw its membership of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization based in Paris, effective in December 2018, in protest at what it called 'anti-Israeli bias', the announcement coming just days before the body elects a new secretary general, with Qatar's Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari tipped as favourite to win the vote.


The United States has formally notified the UN’s world heritage body Unesco that it is withdrawing its membership of the organisation citing “continuing anti-Israel bias”, reports The Guardian.

The announcement by the Trump administration was followed a few hours later by news that Israel was also planning to quit the financially struggling cultural and educational agency.

In a statement Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, welcomed the US move saying: “This is a brave and moral decision, because Unesco has become a theatre of absurd. Instead of preserving history, it distorts it.”

The body is best known for its world heritage listings of outstanding cultural and natural sites but has often drawn the ire of Israel and the Trump administration for a series of decisions, including the listing of Hebron, a city in the southern part of the occupied Palestinian territories, as a Palestinian world heritage site.

Unesco’s director general, Irina Bokova, expressed her “profound regret” over the US decision. “This is not just about World Heritage,” she said, describing the withdrawal as “a loss to both the organisation and the US”.

“At the time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations agency promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack.” she added. “This is a loss to the United Nations family. This is a loss for multilateralism.”


Read more of this article from The Guardian.


