Donald Trump quitting Unesco 'sends warning to other UN bodies over granting Palestine membership'

Donald Trump will pull the US out of the UN's culture and educational agency by the end of 2018
Reuters
Tom Powell12 October 2017

Donald Trump’s decision to pull the US out of Unesco has sent a warning to other UN bodies over granting Palestine membership, an expert has said.

Hugh Lovatt, an Israel/Palestine Project Co-odinator at a top international think tank, said the USA's claim of an “anti-Israel bias” within Unesco stemmed from the countries long-running support for the Jewish state which occupies Palestinian territories.

Professor Lovatt, who works for the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Mr Trump's decision to quit Unesco would act as a warning to other UN bodies over the "massive headache" accepting Palestinian membership could cause them.

The withdrawal of the US, which is meant to provide a fifth of Unesco's funding, is a major blow for the Paris-based organisation which was founded after World War Two to help protect cultural and natural heritage around the world.

Within hours of the USA's decision, Israel also announced plans to withdraw from Unesco.

A Unesco resolution in 2016 ignored Jewish ties to a major holy site in Jerusalem (Shutterstock)
Shutterstock / ESB Professional

Professor Lovatt said: “Over the last few years there have been a number of resolutions passed by Unesco members that have been critical of Israel. This has been a very contentious issue.

“What’s most angering Israel is the labelling of sites in East Jerusalem as on ‘occupied Palestinian territory.’"

He added: “The US has tended to be very supportive of Israeli positions in general. Within the UN it has tended to veto or block any resolutions that are critical of Israel."

In 2011, the US cut most of its funding for the agency when Palestine was made a member.

Professor Lovatt said: “It (leaving Unesco) sends a threat to the UN. It’s sending a message that you should not allow the Palestinians to join because it will give you a massive headache.”

But Professor Lovatt disputed the US claim that the agency, which designates sites of cultural or natural importance around the world, is “anti-Israel”.

“There’s all this talk about the UN being anti-Israel but there’s not really such a thing, because its decisions are made by its member states. It all depends on how its members line up,” he said.

Last year, Unesco’s members passed a resolution which referred to a key site in Jerusalem only by its Arabic name – making no reference to its Jewish ties. Israel subsequently suspended co-operation with the agency.

It also recalled its ambassador to Unesco amid growing dissent at its practices in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the USA's decision to quit Unesco as "brave and moral" as he announced his country would follow suit.

The US State Department said it will withdraw from Unesco officially on December 31.

​Giulio Verdini, a senior lecturer at Westminster University and Unesco report contributor, suggested the USA's withdrawal could lead to a greater balance of power.

He said: “From one side the US decision affects multilateralism so it is clearly negative (but not surprisingly given the tension on the Palestine issue since long), from the other side this could also be accompanied by a rebalance of power towards emerging countries.

“This could open up a scenario in which the international agenda on culture and education could be increasingly influenced also by non-western players. Something not necessarily negative and for sure something that we will have to get used more and more in the future.”