Posted By  richards on November 17, 2013    
				
				    America lost the right to vote at a    UN agency last week. So what, you say? So plenty, our diplomats    answer.  
    Two years ago America stopped financing the UN Education,    Scientific and Cultural Organization. Why? Because its the    law: The George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations signed    acts that ban American funding for any international    organization that admits Palestine as member. So when a    majority of UNESCO members voted in 2011 to do just that    (despite knowing full well theyd risk the loss of US funds),    the Obama administration could no longer pay dues to the    Paris-based organization.  
    And at UNESCO, theres no representation without taxation. Once    a country fails to pay dues for two years (were $250 million    in arrears), it can no longer vote.  
    And so, US laws clashed with the rules of an international    organization. Quick: Guess whos side our diplomats take? All    too predictably, Americas UN ambassador, Samantha Power,    tweeted the answer last week: Losing the US vote in @UNESCO    diminishes our voice at the UN. The horrors.  
    In a statement, Power added that while sharing the concerns    that motivated Congress to cut UNESCOs allowance, she believes    that losing Americas voting rights diminishes our ability to    influence things we care about. You know, like the rights of    women and girls, Internet governance, freedom of the press, and    the recognition and protection of cultural heritage.  
    What a crock. Forget Palestinian membership. Were talking    about one of the least useful UN-linked bodies: How many women,    children or other living things can claim to be better off    because of UNESCO?  
    President Ronald Reagan, for one, didnt seem to think    Americas ability to protect rights, freedoms or heritage was    diminished in 1984, when  followed by a host of other    countries  he withdrew from that Paris bureaucracy, citing    system-wide corruption and constant anti-American voting    patterns.  
    Nor did women or the press do much better around the world    since 2003.  
    Thats when America rejoined UNESCO once the Paris bureaucracy    (supposedly) stopped voting against American interests. (It    never ended the constant bashing of Israels culture, science    or education.)  
    To be fair, Washington did score a minor success since    resuming full UNESCO membership: We managed, at least once, to    save the group from itself. In 2009, most UNESCO members were    set to elect a new director-general, Egypts then-cultural    minister, Farouk Hosny. Except that Hosny had told Cairos    parliament, Id burn Israeli books myself if I found any in    libraries in Egypt.  
See the original post here:
Standing up to UN over ‘Palestine’
				
Category: Jewish American Heritage Month |  
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