The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recently made an announcement on Monday that the United States is ready to rejoin UNESCO in July. Four years ago, the United States, along with Israel, left the organization. During this time, the United States accused UNESCO of bias against Israel. To rejoin the organization, a vote of UNESCO member states is required, however, this vote should pass quite easily.
A little bit about UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is the United Nations agency responsible for strengthening international cooperation and peace by promoting educational, cultural and scientific activities .
According to UNESCO, the US State Department now “applauds the way UNESCO has addressed emerging challenges in recent years, modernized its governance, and reduced political tensions.”
Why did the United States leave UNESCO in the first place?
The story begins in 2011. It was in 2011 when the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization admitted Palestine as its member. Under the leadership of President Barack Obama, the incident caused the US to stop funding the agency, which was actually worth millions of dollars.
The United Nations does not recognize Palestine as a sovereign state. Palestine was introduced by UNESCO as a non-member Observatory State following Israeli objections in 2012. This means it has the right to participate in the proceedings of the General Assembly, however, it do not have voting rights.
In 2013, Nimrod Barkan, Israel’s ambassador to UNESCO, told the Associated Press that the country supported the United States’ decision to stop funding. He said it was “clearly opposed to the politicization of UNESCO or any international organization by joining a non-existent state like Palestine.”
The United States and Israel call the creation of Palestine, along with criticism of Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem by UNESCO, some examples of anti-Israel bias. This caused the United States to leave UNESCO.
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Source: pagasa.edu.vn