UNESCO needs major reforms and shun politics to erase its anti-Semitic image

The United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has done a lot of good work in a number of fields. It has many successes to its credit in the conservation of heritage sites worldwide including those in Egypt. However, recently, the United States and Israel alleged that UNESCO is biased against Israel and Jews, and decided to quit the organisation. The US withdrawal will not be effective until the end of 2018. The nature of allegations against UNESCO points to the need for major reforms in the organization.

On July 7 this year, the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee declared Hebron a Palestinian World Heritage Site, a decision seen by many as anti-Jewish. Hebron is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, 30 km south of Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority controls the larger part, 80 per cent, and the rest is administered by Israel. Jews, Christians, and Muslims all venerate Hebron with traditions dating back to thousands of years and so UNESCO should pass resolutions that are acceptable to all these communities.

According to UPI, at the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee meeting in Krakow, Poland, a secret ballot was held on designating Hebron. Representatives of 12 countries approved the nomination, three rejected it and six abstained.

“The Jewish connection to Hebron goes back thousands of years. Hebron, the birthplace of King David’s kingdom, and the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the first Jewish purchase in Israel and resting place of our forefathers, are our people’s oldest heritage sites. UNESCO’s resolution must be rejected,” Naftali Bennett, Israeli Education Minister told UPI.
Jared Genser, an international human rights lawyer, writing in The Washington Post, welcomed the decision of the US to pull out of UNESCO. He said UNESCO has advanced the agendas of numerous dictatorships and indulged in virulent anti-Israel bias.

He pointed out that UNESCO elected Sudan, led by the dictator Omar al-Bashir, who was indicted by the International Criminal Court on genocide charges, to its governing body. He stated that between 2009 and 2014, UNESCO adopted 46 resolutions criticising Israel - but only one on Syria, and none on North Korea, Iran, China, Russia or Sudan. Besides, UNESCO stood silent while the military wing of Hamas bulldozed the Anthedon seaport, a World Heritage Site, to build a terrorist training camp.

Foreign Policy quoted US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley as saying: “Its (UNESCO’s) extreme politicisation has become a chronic embarrassment.”

The timesofisrael.com reported that on May 2, UNESCO’s Executive Board also passed a resolution on ‘Occupied Palestine’, which indicated that Israel has no legal or historical rights anywhere in Jerusalem. Submitted by Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Sudan, the resolution was passed with 22 countries in favour, 23 abstentions, 10 opposed, and the representatives of three countries absent.

The timesofisrael.com also reported that at a Jerusalem conference, 15 academicians linked to the UNESCO urged it to consult people ‘with relevant expertise’ before passing resolutions on sensitive matters. The 15 scholars who issued the statement are members of UNESCO’s UNITWIN network for interreligious and intercultural studies and include experts from the US, Israel, France, Tajikistan, New Zealand, Russia and India. The scholars recommended that a new process be developed so that UNESCO consults its academic chairs with relevant expertise before decisions are taken.

Outgoing Director General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova of Bulgaria denied the allegations but was obviously unable to put up any defence of the poor resolutions passed by UNESCO.

After the United States and Israel declared their decision to pull out, UNESCO elected its first ever Jewish Director General, Audrey Azoulay. She had promised that if elected she would ‘restore the effectiveness and credibility’ of UNESCO, which she said was undergoing a ‘deep political crisis.’ Whether Azoulay will be able to keep her promise, is yet to be seen. It is necessary for UNESCO to make major changes in its functioning. The procedure of passing resolutions based on secret voting by nation states should be done away with and replaced with decisions taken by experts with a reputation for professionalism. The world is multi-polar, multi-cultural, multi-religious and diverse and this must be accepted by UNESCO and reflected in its actions if it wants to remain relevant. UNESCO needs to do away with politics, which is casting a shadow on all the good work it is doing.