The Taliban, a terrorist group that negates the UN’s fundamental principles, also stands to inherit a seat on ECOSOC, a principal UN organ that oversees influential agencies, including two separate UN entities charged with protecting women’s rights.

“Let me be clear: Putting the Taliban in charge of protecting world heritage and women’s rights would be like making a pyromaniac into the town fire chief,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.

Let me be clear: Putting the Taliban in charge of protecting world heritage and women's rights would be like making a pyromaniac into the town fire chief. https://t.co/erpbqd5Mj4

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) August 18, 2021

1. The Taliban on UNESCO: Oversight on Education, Counter-Extremism, World Heritage

Afghanistan holds a 2019-2023 membership term on UNESCO’s Executive Board, with responsibility for overseeing that body’s agenda, program of work and budget.

If the Taliban inherit this seat, the terrorist group would, for example, oversee UNESCO’s work on education, where gender equality is an underlying principle, even as they deny Afghan women and girls the right to an education.

The Taliban would also gain oversight of UNESCO’s initiative on preventing violent extremism through education and celebrating cultural diversity, even as they crush dissent and administer medieval justice, lashing women for going to school or for speaking on the phone to a man.

And the entity that obliterated one of the world’s greatest cultural heritage sites would have fiduciary responsibility for safeguarding the world’s cultural and natural heritage.

BREAKING: UN Watch calls on US, EU, all states to deny Taliban credentials for Afghanistan's UNESCO & ECOSOC seats. "Allowing a misogynist, murderous band of terrorists to influence these world bodies would be absurd, immoral & obscene," said Hillel Neuer.https://t.co/SbCUb9TlzR https://t.co/cBRHkZzulM

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) August 18, 2021

Blowing up the Buddhas

In March 2001, before US-led forces invaded Afghanistan and removed the Taliban from power, the Islamist extremist group destroyed giant 5th-century statues of Afghan Buddhas in what UNESCO’s then director-general called a “crime against culture.” Koichiro Matsuura said it was “abominable to witness the cold and calculated destruction of cultural properties which were the heritage of the Afghan people, and, indeed, of the whole of humanity.”

The empty niches where the Buddhas stood were inscribed on the World Heritage List as part of the “Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley” World Heritage property in 2003. Commemorating the event twenty years later, UNESCO describes it as a “deliberate act of destruction, motivated by an extremist ideology that aimed to destroy culture, identity and history.”

2. Taliban on ECOSOC: Shaping Women’s Rights, Overseeing Human Rights Activists

Afghanistan was just elected for the 2022-2024 term to the UN’s Economic and Social Council, a top UN body that regulates human rights groups, oversees the UN women’s rights commission, and adopts resolutions on a vast array of global issues ranging from internet freedom to the treatment of prisoners.

If a Taliban government assumes Afghanistan’s seat on ECOSOC, the terrorist group will be in a position to influence decisions on accrediting and overseeing human rights groups at the UN, deciding which can participate at the Human Rights Council.

As a member of ECOSOC, the Taliban would be one of 54 states electing member states to the Commission on the Status of Women, the Executive Board of UN Women, and UNICEF.

“It would be grotesque to hand global responsibility for gender equality and women’s empowerment to an extreme Islamist group responsible for sending women’s rights back to the dark ages,” said Neuer.

“We are calling on the US, the EU, and all other UN member states to show resolve and deny the Taliban the credentials they need to take over Afghanistan’s seat. We cannot allow a misogynistic, murderous band of terrorists to influence the world bodies responsible for education, culture, women’s equality and human rights,” said Neuer. “Allowing in the Taliban to such bodies would be truly absurd, immoral and obscene.”

The post Taliban Blew Up Colossal Buddhas, Now Poised to Join UNESCO appeared first on UN Watch.

GENEVA, December 31, 2020 –  A Syrian charity created by Syrian first lady Asma al-Assad to enrich the regime has been elected by a 24-nation UNESCO committee to a world body that protects intangible cultural heritage, sparking outrage among activists who cited the Assad regime’s role in destroying heritage sites during its decade-long civil war.

The Syria Trust for Development, a proxy for the Syrian regime, was elected to the Evaluation Body of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, in a secret ballot held during its 15th Session, held in the week of December 14-19 2020.

According to the UNESCO committee’s meeting document for establishing the Evaluation Body for the 2021 cycle, the Syria Trust was competing in a regional electoral group against two other NGOs from Saudi Arabia and Morocco for one available position. (See video above for announcement of the new members of the Evaluation Body.)

“It’s a disgrace,” tweeted the Syria Campaign. “The Assads have crushed swathes of Syria’s cultural heritage. Whole cities, towns and villages have been destroyed.”

International human rights activists also slammed the UNESCO decision.

“Inviting the Syrian regime to protect cultural heritage is asking the foxes to guard the chickens,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of  UN Watch, an independent Geneva-based human group that monitors the United Nations. “It’s absurd, and sends absolutely the wrong message to millions of Syrians victimized by the Assad regime.”

As expected, the regime’s state-run news agency hailed “the Trust’s victory,” saying it “carries great importance in terms of representing Syria in a large international forum.”

No joke: UNESCO elects the “Syria Trust for Development,“ which was created by Syrian first lady Asma al-Assad to enrich her husband's murderous regime, to a world body that protects cultural heritage.

Because 2020 wasn't already bad enough.https://t.co/aXB1pPtNYO

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) December 31, 2020

The Syrian army inflicted heavy damage on a 13th century mosque located directly in front of the Citadel of Aleppo, by using it as a military base. In addition to Aleppo, the cities of Bosra, Damascus and Palmyra are symbols of the destruction of Syria’s cultural heritage as a result of its civil war, and are all designated on the List of World Heritage in Danger compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

While multiple parties in the civil war have been responsible for the devastation wrought upon Syria, the Assad regime does not belong on any world body charged with protecting cultural heritage.

Evaluation Body

Members of the Evaluation Body, comprised of six experts and six UNESCO-accredited NGOs, screen and recommend nominations for UNESCO’s lists of cultural heritage deemed worthy of recognition for humanity, or in need of urgent safeguarding. In addition, the consultative body assesses applications from states for international assistance of more than $100,000 for cultural preservation projects.

As a result of the election, a Syrian NGO now has a significant say on what living cultural heritage is deemed worthy of protection in the eyes of UNESCO.

Some examples of cultural heritage on the UNESCO lists may seem of little interest beyond specific countries or national minorities, for example, handmade weaving in Upper Egypt, or Finland’s sauna culture, both of which were added in this year’s session. Yet the principle at stake is clear: a state involved in decimating the cultural traditions of some of its own ethnic groups should not be sitting in judgment on what cultures and traditions are worthy of preservation.

After a decade of brutal civil war and appalling human rights abuses, the Syrian regime should not be rewarded by the United Nations by election to any committee.

Asma Al-Assad’s Charity Weaponizes humanitarian aid

The Syria Trust for Development is the charity founded by and still linked to Syrian First Lady Asma al-Assad, which now sits as an accredited non-governmental organization on the UNESCO committee. According to its website, the Trust “strives for long-lasting positive change,”  fostering “self-reliant economic enterprise,” “learning and life skills,” “a vibrant Syrian cultural identity,” “strong and engaged communities,” and ” life-changing humanitarian solutions.”

Only days after the UNESCO election, Bashar Assad’s wife, already under European Union sanctions for several years, was targeted by a new wave of U.S. sanctions on Syrian individuals and entities linked to the Assad regime.

Pointing to the Syria Trust for Development, Joel Rayburn, the U.S. special envoy for Syria, said that “Asma al-Assad has spearheaded efforts on behalf of the regime to consolidate economic and political power, including by using her so-called charity and civil society organization. Her and her family’s corruption is one of the many reasons that this conflict lingers on.”

Indeed, while Asma’s Syria Trust may sound charitable, the reality is far more sinister. Human Rights Watch reports how the Assad regime has effectively weaponized humanitarian aid in Syria by forcing UN agencies and relief organizations to channel their operations through local Syrian NGOs vetted and approved by the regime. The Syria Trust plays a central role and allows the Syrian regime to ensure the bulk of humanitarian aid is delivered to government-controlled areas while denying it to rebel-held territories.

According to Naim Khoury, Executive Director of the Arab Reform Initiative, the Syria Trust is a key partner and gatekeeper for UN agencies and NGOs working to deliver humanitarian relief in Syria.

https://twitter.com/nadimhoury/status/1273265628133109760?s=20

The post UNESCO Elects Assad-Linked Syrian Charity to Cultural Heritage Body appeared first on UN Watch.

1. Anti-Israeli Obsession: Between 2009-2014, UNESCO adopted 46 resolutions against Israel; 1 on Syria; and none on Iran, Sudan, North Korea, or any other country in the world. See here and here. Betraying its mission to protect world heritage and culture, UNESCO repeatedly denies the ancient Jewish heritage and culture of the holy cities Jerusalem and Hebron, which was this year declared a World Heritage site of “Palestine.”
2. Electing Syria’s Assad to Human Rights Committee: In 2011, UNESCO elected Syria’s Assad regime to its human rights committee. When UN Watch exposed the outrage and launched a protest campaign, the U.S. and UK were embarrassed and tried to remove Syria — but failed to get enough votes to do so.
3. Glorifying Violence: In 2013, UNESCO enshrined “The Life and Works of Ernesto Che Guevara” in its “Memory of the World Register” —even though Che Guevara led the first firing squads of the Cuban Revolution, and founded Cuba’s “labor camp” system that would later be used to incarcerate gays, dissidents and AIDS victims. President Obama’s representative demanded that UNESCO’s program not “not be used as a tool to glorify or legitimize violence.” His objection was ignored.
4. Naming Prizes for Dictators: UNESCO created a $3 million prize in 2008 named for and funded by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the brutal and corrupt dictator of Equitorial Guinea. His state radio announced that Obiang “can decide to kill” without anyone calling him to account because he is in “permanent contact” with God, “who gives him this strength.” In addition, UNESCO created an education prize in the name of, and sponsored by, the despot of Bahrain — the “King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize.”
5. “World Philosophy Day” in Tehran:  In a 2010 address, UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova spoke of her efforts over two years to sponsor a “Philosophy Day” in Tehran — despite Iran’s horrific record of repression and censorship after the fraudulent elections of 2009. Absurdly, Bokova said “I hope this will be a major opportunity for free intellectual debates around the topics.” Eventually UNESCO was forced to cancel the event.

1. Israel pulls out of UNESCO.
Why?
Because it demonizes the Jewish state, elevates murderous regimes, betrays mission to protect education, science, culture.
===
Condemnations by UNESCO, 2009-2014#Israel 46#Syria 1#Iran 0#NKorea 0#Sudan 0
Others 0https://t.co/CUL4gFMkWJ

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) December 23, 2017

When France & Sweden voted @UNESCO to accuse Israel of 'planting Jewish fake graves'—they helped destroy the agency. https://t.co/izFfrNePWS

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) October 15, 2017

The post 5 Reasons Why Israel & U.S. Pulled Out of UNESCO appeared first on UN Watch.

Dr. Roemer is a renowned public intellectual, humanitarian, and author of 16 books. Click here for bio.

In October 2016, while serving as his country’s representative to UNESCO, Roemer refused to obey instructions from Mexico City to vote for an Arab-drafted resolution that denied the Jewish and Christian heritage of Jerusalem, and which referred to the Temple Mount only with Islamic and Arabic names.

Instead, in an unprecedented move, Roemer stood up for his beliefs and walked out of the room. His principled defiance cost him his job, but ultimately Mexico changed its position, announcing its withdrawal of support for the biased resolution.

“It was personally moving to see you leave the room during the vote in order to actively avoid the vote against your conscience,” wrote Amb. Shama-Hacohen, Israel’s UNESCO ambassador, in October, who posted a photo of the two after the vote.

“I am at peace with what I did,” said Roemer, after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month in Paris. “These votes do not have a place in an educational and cultural organization, and hurt us all.”

“It is now a great honor to receive this recognition and award from UN Watch, a leading voice for human rights,” added Roemer.

The Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award, named for the founding chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights, honors public figures who have shown uncommon courage in defense of the founding principles of the United Nations.

“Dr. Roemer’s dissent on the distorted Jerusalem resolution was a courageous act of resistance against the perversion of UNESCO’s founding mission to protect world heritage,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.

“Andres Roemer’s act of defiance exemplifies the principles of Eleanor Roosevelt, and of the UN Charter’s guarantee of equal treatment for all nations. When the UN in the 1960s began to target Israel with one-sided resolutions, Eleanor Roosevelt spoke out.”UN secretary-general António Guterres has also opposed UN bias against Israel, dissenting from UNESCO positions.

“Israel needs to be treated like any other UN member state,” said Guterres in March. He added that “the modern form of antisemitism is the denial of the existence of the State of Israel.”

In January, after UNESCO’s vote, Guterres said that it is “completely clear that the Temple that the Romans destroyed in Jerusalem was a Jewish Temple.”

The inaugural Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award was given to former Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, at a ceremony held at the historic Roosevelt House in New York.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207452694139071&set=a.1325261735163.2043106.1339490290&type=3&theater
“Mexico issued an official announcement that it will change its position, which for the past five years supported the Palestinian resolution. Regrettably our central partner in this change of position will pay for this with his head and will be replaced. An occasion to say to this wonderful man, who last week—out of conscience as a Jew and as a human being—refused to vote according to the instructions he received, and instead left the hall: In the name of the State of Israel, thank you, Mr. Ambassador!”
—Israeli Ambassador Carmel Shama-Hacohen, Oct. 18, 2016

The post Moral Courage: Mexico's Former UNESCO Ambassador Receives Human Rights Award appeared first on UN Watch.

Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel
[…]
3. The Holy Places shall be protected from desecration and any other violation and from anything likely to violate the freedom of access of the members of the different religions to the places sacred to them or their feelings towards those places.

The resolution also invokes 17 past UNESCO resolutions on Jerusalem. These include 199 EX/Dec.19.1 from April 2016, which propagated the false claim that Israel plants “Jewish fake graves” in Muslim cemeteries, as well as 197 EX/Decision 32 from November 2015, which denies Judaism’s ties to its holiest sites by referring to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall Plaza only by their Islamic names “al-Haram ash-Sharif” and the “Buraq Plaza.”

No joke: UNESCO World Heritage Cttee yesterday invoked the insane 2016 UNESCO resolution accusing Israel of planting “Jewish fake graves.” pic.twitter.com/xsWZ6pmIJB

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) July 5, 2017

The post UNESCO World Heritage Committee adopts resolution targeting Israel on Jerusalem appeared first on UN Watch.

Transcript:
Israeli Ambassador to UNESCO, Carmel Shama-Hacohen: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Fellow ambassadors, at the beginning of my remarks I would like to thank the countries who stood by our side today and have once again prevented a dishonorable consensus on an anti-Israel and anti-Jewish decision. Your moral clarity brings honor to your countries.
I would like to share with you a special angle on the decision taken today which makes this resolution all the more outrageous and hurtful to every Jew, and especially to Holocaust survivors.
During the last 24 hours, survivors have sent a letter to the Polish Foreign Minister, and appeared in the Israeli press expressing their feelings and dismay at the UNESCO resolution. If there is anyone amongst you who can dispute their feelings, he must have a vicious heart.
We are assembled here, next to the largest mass grave of the Jewish people, but it’s also the biggest, darkest grave into which humanity had ever descended.
The sites, the sounds, the smells, the blood, and the horrors that occurred here in the German Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau were not confined to the camp’s electrified fences. Indeed, under right weather conditions the smell of the crematorium may have reached the very place where we are now seated.
A month ago I approached the Arab delegations through one of their ambassadors with a special request. I asked them to be sensitive to this sensitive location and not to table the anti-Jewish resolution regarding Jerusalem. I told them that it would help to build positive relations.
But sadly, we are here today with not just one, but with two such anti-Israeli resolutions.
Mr. Chairman, because UNESCO has taken upon itself to commemorate the Holocaust and mainly because I stand here today as the representative of the Jewish state, I therefore request that this body stands with us in a minute of silence in solemn memory of the six million murdered Jews, and all those who were killed by the Nazi animal, or died fighting against it.
Please stand with us.
[Moment of silence]
Israel: Thank you.
To the ambassadors of the Arab countries and their partners, I suggest that you take a tour of the German Nazi camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Maybe there you will understand that even the darkest hours, where they separated parents from their children, dismembered live people, and where they separated human beings from humanity, the Nazis could not succeed in separating the Jewish people from our eternal capital, Jerusalem.
Yerushalayim, Jerusalem, is mentioned in all our prayers and at the highest moments of the year we say the famous phrase “Next year in Jerusalem”. We have never stopped saying it, even during the Holocaust, and I promise you that we will never stop saying it.
Since 1967, there are only positive differences in Jerusalem. The whole Jerusalem is open to anyone no matter if its Muslim, Christian, or Jewish. Our flag flies all over it and we are building it, we are building Jerusalem.
Let me conclude by saying that just as Hitler, the Nazis, and their partners, like Haj Amin al-Husseini did not succeed, you will not succeed as well in denying the Holocaust or in your efforts to destroy Israel or the Jewish history.
No politicized decision of UNESCO will ever move one brick from a wall in Jerusalem. Nor will it succeed in separating between Jerusalem and the Jewish nation. Nor will it succeed to rewrite our history in Jerusalem.
Thank you very much.
 
Cuba: Thank you very much, Chair.
I think that only the Chair can ask for a minute of silence.
I do think that this is an incorrect interpretation of this decision. I think the decision has been manipulated once again, when what we have done – this committee does not take any decisions concerning measures against Israel nor against the Jewish people and I think that that is turning this meeting into a politicized circus.
What we have just heard from the delegate of Israel is opening up the discussion on the debates and the decisions that we have just taken does not reflect any of that.
Only the Chair can request a minute of silence. So with your indulgence, let me request Mr. Chairman, that we stand for minute of silence for all of the Palestinians who have died in the region.
Thank you.
[Delegates fill the room with applause as they stand for moment of silence]

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The opening speaker was Ali Nasser Alghafs, Saudi Minister of Labor and Social Development.

GENEVA, May 7, 2017 – A foundation run by the Saudi royal family hosted a U.N. global forum for non-governmental organizations in Riyadh last week, on the theme of “Youth and their Social Impact,” even as young bloggers and human rights activists like Raif Badawi languish in prison for the crime of advocating freedom in Saudi Arabia. Speakers included UNESCO chief Irina Bokova, Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis, and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.
Regrettably, UNESCO, the U.N. agency for education, science, and culture, mentioned nowhere at its 7th International Forum of NGO, or on the conference website, that Saudi Arabia prohibits independent NGOs and arrests, jails and even sometimes flogs human rights activists.
Women attending the forum were instructed to “wear an Abaya, which is a long robe, usually black, that covers most of their body.”
The UNESCO gathering was sponsored by the wealthy MiSK Foundation, a Saudi charity, “even though,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based UN Watch, “that it is headed by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the Saudi minister of defence who has overseen the bombing of Yemen that has killed 10,000 civilians and wounded 40,000 civilians, along with a naval blockade that has diverted ships carrying life-saving medical supplies, with 20 million Yemenis now in need of humanitarian assistance, and seven million facing starvation.”
“We know that the U.N. must operate in many countries, but the world body was under no obligation to award a false badge of international legitimacy to one of the world’s worst regimes when it comes to crushing independent human rights organizations and jailing innocent activists,” Neuer added.
“By holding a high-level gathering of non-governmental activists in Saudi Arabia, the U.N. showed contempt for the heroic Saudi human rights activists who are arrested, imprisoned or flogged, and it gave a prize to a regime that tramples the rights of women, along with the freedoms of religion, assembly, speech, press, and the values of democracy, equality and the rule of law,” said Neuer.

Delegates were treated to fine dining in Riyadh’s lavish Four Seasons Hotel,
where “spacious marble bathrooms boast deep soaking bathtubs.”

Saudi law allows for the banning of any organization that the government opposes, on grounds that it may violate “Islamic Sharia,” “public manners” or “national unity.” A new statute bars NGOs from participating in events outside the country, receiving foreign funding, or collaborating with international organizations without government approval.
Human rights activists such as Abdullah al-Attawi and Mohammad al-Oteibi were targeted in October 2016 for prosecution for having founded a human rights organization.
According to UNESCO, the event drew more than 400 NGOs and over 2,100 delegates from more than 70 countries. The Saudi foundation was thanked for its generosity.

Saudi Arabia Convicts Human Rights Activists

Despite claimed social reforms, Saudi authorities regularly target peaceful dissidents with arbitrary arrests, trials, and convictions. Dozens of human rights activists are serving lengthy prison sentences for criticizing authorities or advocating social, political or human rights reforms.
Over a dozen prominent activists are serving long prison sentences for their advocacy. Waleed Abu al-Khair is serving a 15-year sentence for 2014 comments he made on social media about human rights abuses. Raif Badawi is serving the fifth year of his 10-year sentence; he was flogged in January 2015. Journalist Alaa Brinji was recently sentenced to five years in prison and an eight-year travel ban for tweets criticizing religious authorities and supporting women’s rights and the cause of jailed human rights activists.
Last year, the kingdom jailed nearly all the founders of the banned Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA). The country’s terrorism tribunal convicted ACPRA activists Abd al-Aziz al-Shubaily and Issa al-Hamid to eight and nine years in prison respectively, in addition to lengthy travel bans based solely on their peaceful pro-reform advocacy.

Saudi Arabia’s Law on Associations Bans Advocacy NGOs

• Barriers to Speech and/or Advocacy: Advocacy organizations, and political activity more broadly, are prohibited.
• Barriers to Activities: Broadly restrictions on permissible and impermissible purposes. Invasive supervision and monitoring of internal affairs. Must comply with Islamic Sharia.
• Barriers to International Contact: Domestic associations and foundations must obtain government approval to participate in activities abroad, provide services outside Saudi Arabia, or become members of international organizations. Foreign associations and foundations are prohibited from opening branches inside Saudi Arabia.
• Barriers to Resources: Associations and foundations may only receive foreign funding with the approval of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development.
• Barriers to Assembly: No constitutional protection of the right to hold assemblies; punishment for protesters often based on fatwas; excessive force used to break up protests.

Source: ICNL
 

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________

PARIS, May 2, 2017 – UN Watch, a Geneva-based human rights NGO, condemned the “hijacking” of UNESCO’s agenda by the Palestinians and Arab states, after the agency’s 58-member board  singled out Israel today for condemnation—the only nation to be criticized—as the Jewish state celebrated it 69th Independence Day.

“Israel lost the vote today, but it did score a small moral victory: despite reported fears that Germany’s negotiations with the Palestinians would erode support, Israel in the end won more votes than ever before, including from major democracies like the U.S., Britain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.
“The Palestinians at UNESCO are hemorrhaging support for their ritual anti-Israel resolution: last April they had 33 yes votes, then in October it was down to 24, and today it’s down to 22. The no votes increased substantially from 6 to 10.”
“And once again, India—an increasingly important friend and ally of Israel—has voted to abstain, showing that its recent break from decades of lockstep voting with the Arab states is now a fixed policy.”
Resolution on Jerusalem

Two resolutions this afternoon in Paris accuse Israel’s military of abuses, yet make no mention of rockets fired by Hamas against Israeli cities, or of ongoing Palestinian terrorist stabbings of Israeli Jews.
The resolution on Jerusalem, despite a passing mention of “the three monotheistic religions,” ignores Jewish and Christian religious and historical ties to the city, condemning Israel for excavations of the Jewish capital that have revealed the ancient City of David, along with pottery inscriptions, coins and artifacts connected to Jewish life during and before the time of Jesus.
“Once again, the United Nations agency for education, science and culture is being hijacked by genocidal regimes and serial human rights abusers like Sudan, Iran, Algeria, Qatar, and Russia,” said Neuer.
“Founded in 1945 to combat the doctrine of the inequality of men and races, UNESCO today has sadly become a serial perpetrator of inequality,” said Neuer, noting that the U.S. under President Obama cut funding as a result of such actions.
“Today’s prejudiced votes are liable to be the last straw that pushes the U.S. to withdraw UNESCO for good.”
“One-sided and political measures only divert UNESCO from its obligations to help educate needy children in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere.”
“UNESCO’s actions also send a message to bad actors in the Middle East, pouring fuel on the fires of incitement to terror that already poison educational curricula.”
Resolution on Palestinian Education Omits Incitement to Terror & Antisemitism
UN Watch noted that the resolution on Palestinian education and schools makes no mention of the gross breach of United Nations values by teachers at UNRWA who incite to antisemitism and terrorism.
Recent reports by UN Watch, including one presented before the U.S. Congress in February and at the Canadian parliament in March, exposed more than 100 Facebook pages operated by UNRWA schools, school teachers, principals, and other employees of UNRWA, which incite to terrorism or antisemitism.
UNESCO’s resolution fails to note the ongoing incitement which includes UNRWA teachers, staffers and institutions celebrating the terrorist kidnapping of Israeli teenagers, cheering rockets being fired at Israeli civilian centers, endorsing various forms of violence including random knife and vehicular attacks against Israeli civilians, erasing Israel from the map, praising Hitler and posting his photo, and posting overtly antisemitic videos, caricatures, and statements.
Breaches of the right to education ignored by UNESCO’s resolution include:
• The Facebook page of UNRWA’s Manshiet Bani Hashim school applauds the wave of fires that struck Israel in November 2016, many of which were started by arson terrorists. Other images on the school’s page depict student artwork adorning the school which erases Israel from the map. In February 2017, Abu Anas Ghoban, a teacher at this school posted an image to his Facebook profile glorifying terrorism.
• Several UNRWA schools display images erasing Israel from the map, often as murals decorating the school or in displays of student artwork. This completely negates UNRWA’s claim to be educating Palestinians for peace and coexistence with Israel.
• The UNRWA schools in Jordan Facebook page promotes an annual poetry contest in conjunction with UNRWA’s Nazzal school in Amman. In 2011, one young participant who is photographed holding up a knife and reciting a poem glorifying suicide martyrdom.
• UNRWA’s al-Qastal school in Lebanon celebrated knife attacks against Israeli civilians by hosting a rally with speeches by students and teachers.
“If UNESCO cares about education for the Palestinians, it must begin by fighting incitement within UN schools themselves,” said Neuer.

The post UNESCO's Anti-Israel Resolution Gets Least Votes Ever appeared first on UN Watch.

• The draft times refers 11 times to Al-Haram Al-Sharif, exclusively using the Islamic term for Temple Mount, without any mention that it is the holiest site in Judaism. This is part of a larger campaign at the UN, and particularly in UNESCO, to Islamize sites historically belonging to other faiths.

• The latest draft, similar in many respects to the resolution adopted in 2015, speaks of the “Western Wall of Al Aqsa Mosque/ Al-Haram Al-Sharif,” an effort to Islamize what is the most hallowed site for Jewish worshippers over two millennia, due to the ancient wall’s connection to the Holy Jewish Temple destroyed in 70 CE. The language intensifies the denialism famously promoted by Yasser Arafat’s negotiator at Camp David, and which continues in Palestinian Authority statements.

• Jerusalem’s light rail, which is used daily by thousands of Arab residents among others, is accused of having a “damaging effect” on the “visual integrity” and “authentic character” of the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem—even though the track passes through an existing highway and only facilitates transportation for visitors of all faiths.

The 21 members on the UNESCO world heritage committee are: Angola, Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Croatia, Cuba, Finland, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Tunisia, Turkey, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

UNESCO and Israel

UNESCO may be the most anti-Israel of all UN agencies. In a typical year, the organization’s legislative bodies will condemn Israel 10 or more times, with no criticism adopted for any other country in the world.
For example:

• In 2009, UNESCO adopted 10 decisions against Israel (eight at the 181^st and 182^nd sessions of the Executive Board, and two at the 35^th session of the General Conference).
• In 2010, UNESCO adopted 10 decisions against Israel at the 184^th and 185^th sessions of the Executive board.
• In 2011, UNESCO again adopted 10 decisions against Israel at the 186^th and 187^th sessions of the Executive Board and two resolutions against Israel at the 36^th session of the General Conference.

More on UNESCO

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