OPINION: U.S. withdraws funding from UNESCO
There are very few organizations in the world that are unambiguously doing good things for everyone.
No matter how ethical or productive a company is there are always losers in business — people who lose their jobs or are forced to close shop.
In politics, good is often defined by which side you’re standing on. Even charitable organizations come under fire occasionally, for nursing the wrong people back to health or destroying small markets with free donations.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), seemed different, though. I believe much of the world’s violence, economic and political disparity, can be solved through education. It’s hard to see how an organization whose mission is to promote education worldwide can be put in a bad light.
And then UNESCO decided to put its foot in the door of politics.
The recent decision made by the executive board at UNESCO to propose Palestine for membership, and the subsequent decision made by member states to vote it in, is a controversial one to say the least.
The vote passed by an overwhelming margin of 107-14. The U.S. responded by immediately cutting off all funding to the organization. Hasty decision? I don’t think so.
Actually the U.S. decision to cut funding from UNESCO was never made, it was predetermined. According to a 1994 law, the U.S. must sever all financial ties with any United Nations organization that grants Palestine full membership.
While the Obama Administration will doubtlessly look for ways around this, a pro-Israel Congress may prevent that.
Why should we even care that UNESCO has granted Palestine membership?
The U.S. has been unabashedly pro-Israel, for various political reasons, in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Currently, the international community doesn’t recognize Palestine as a legitimate country. By voting it into the organization as an entity of the U.N., UNESCO granted Palestine an increased level of international legitimacy.
Intrinsically, this is not a bad thing. In my eyes both Israel and Palestine have a legitimate claim on the disputed territory. I sincerely hope one day the issue may be resolved and Palestine will receive full recognition as a state.
My issue with the UNESCO decision is Palestine is gaining legitimacy in the wrong way. I do not believe this is a decision that should be resolved via a popular vote by the U.N. Yet, if U.N. agencies continue to vote Palestine in, this is exactly what might happen.
I feel for Palestine and fully understand why it would appeal to U.N. popular opinion in order to gain legitimacy. However, by doing so Palestine is sidestepping crucial negotiations with Israel. It isn’t really resolving the conflict, it’s hiding from it.
What irks me is how politically charged UNESCO’s decision was. It had absolutely nothing to do with education, science or culture.
There are certain standards a country must adhere to in order to qualify for membership to UNESCO, such as education standards. Yet, one third-party organization, which examines the official textbooks of educational systems worldwide, found that Palestinian texts were heavily biased and fell well below UNESCO’s standards.
Do we really think that U.N. recognition will push the conflict toward a resolution? In actuality it has simply made both sides more aggressive. Palestine continues to seek further recognition in the U.N. and is now planning to sue Israel in international forums, changing the nature of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem.
Israel on the other hand immediately placed new sanctions and approved further settlement in Palestinian territory, following UNESCO’s decision.
Like everyone out there, I want a peaceful resolution to this conflict. However, I don’t see the sense in sidestepping the issue only to have it turn more violent in the future.