Washington may cut UNESCO funding over Palestinian Vote

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US collectors who cannot see the relationship between the State Department's "cultural property protection program" which they so bitterly oppose and the furthering of US foreign relations and policies should take heed of ongoing events concerning Palestine. UNESCO, the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization based in Paris, is expected to vote whether to accept the Palestinians as a member state. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hinted Wednesday the US may withhold funds to UNESCO if it takes this vote. Apparently the US contributes some 22 percent of the organization’s yearly budget and the overnight loss of these funds would cripple UNESCO. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida) has already called for a cut-off of US funding to UNESCO if the Palestinian request is approved. We recall that Ronald Reagan, pulled the US out of UNESCO in 1984 because of its "anti-American agenda" and Washington did not rejoin until 2003. The US has tried these bullying tactics before in 1989 they prevented the PLO from gaining entry into UN-affiliated bodies by the same means. Voting on Wednesday on the proposal from Palestine in the 58 state representatives on the Executive Board of UNESCO (14 nations abstained, but only the US, Germany, Latvia and Romania voted against), leading to them putting the proposal forward to a full vote.

Clinton urged UNESCO’s governing body to “think again before proceeding with that vote, because the decision about status must be made in the United Nations and not in auxiliary groups that are subsidiary to the United Nations.” “What is the boundary of this state that is being considered by UNESCO?” she asked.“What authorities does it have? What jurisdiction will it be endowed with? Who knows?

So basically the US considers that a foreign national born one side of a contested line on a map on the other side of the world by reason of the place they are born has no fundamental rights of access in any form to international institutions promoting education, scientific and cultural co-operation. They are to exist in a US imposed cultural and educational ghetto?

What happened to "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights"? Basically, it seems at times that the state that is (allegedly) founded on that principle shows itself to be hypocritical at every step in that regard, both within itself as well as its relations with the outside world - especially when we see the way it is applied to other peoples' rights to cultural self-determination. Let us note that what the US actually wants to prevent here is other countries taking a VOTE, just in case the vote shows that the majority of the other countries do not all want to follow US directives in this matter. Scandalous.

So US collectors opposing US policy on cultural property as created by their State Department are in fact engaging in moves contrary to the interests of their state. Can the ACCG therefore be considered an anti-American organization?

Herb Keinon, 'Clinton: UNESCO should 'think again' on Palestinians', Jerusalem Post 10/06/2011

Vignette: Palestinian children.