Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Tuesday 8 January 2019

David Singer: United States and Israel Quit over UNESCO’s Love Affair with “Palestine”

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

UNESCO’s decision to admit “Palestine” as a member state in 2011 in breach of UNESCO’s own Constitution has come back to bite UNESCO with a vengeance – with America and Israel both quitting their membership of UNESCO on 31 December 2018.

America’s designated funding of 22% of UNESCO’s annual budget will now have to be met by other member states or UNESCO’s programs severely curtailed.

In October 2017, State Department spokesperson (now UN Ambassador-elect) Heather Nauert, clarified that America’s decision had not been taken lightly – citing continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO and the need for fundamental reform in the organization.

UNESCO anti-Israel decisions since “Palestine” was admitted to UNESCO membership have included:
  • 2012– 8 resolutions condemning Israel, 1 condemning Syria and 0 other countries.
  • 2013– 6 condemning Israel and 0 other countries
  • January 2014– Cancelling an exhibition at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters on the Jewish presence in the land of Israel
  • October 2016– Disregarding any Jewish ties to the Temple Mount – only referring to it by its Muslim names – then several weeks later – passing a softer version of the resolution that referred to the Western Wall by its Jewish name – though still ignoring Judaism’s ties to the site.
  • July 2017– Designating Hebron and the two adjoined shrines at its heart — the Jewish Tomb of the Patriarchs and the Muslim Ibrahimi Mosque — as a “Palestinian World Heritage Site in Danger”.

UNESCO’s admission of “Palestine” to membership breached Article II (2) of UNESCO’s Constitution which only allows States to be admitted to UNESCO.  “Palestine” was not a state under the criteria laid down under international law by the 1933 Montevideo Convention.

107 states voted to admit “Palestine” whilst the remaining 86 voted “No”, “abstained” or “did not vote”.

UNESCO’s legally questionable decision was never referred by UNESCO to the International Court of Justice or an arbitral tribunal for confirmation under Article XIV (2)of UNESCO’s Constitution.
Given what has transpired – such failure was a monumental misjudgement.

President Trump’s National Security Adviser – John Bolton – recently exposed the fiction that there is a legally-constituted entity called “Palestine”:
'[Palestine] is not a state… It does not meet the customary international law test of statehood. It doesn’t control defined boundaries. It doesn’t fulfil the normal functions of government…calling it the so-called "State of Palestine" defines exactly what it has been — a position that the United States government has pursued uniformly since 1988 when the ‘Palestinian’ Authority declared itself to be the state of "Palestine". We don’t recognize it as the state of "Palestine". We have consistently across Democratic and Republican administrations opposed the admission of ‘Palestine’ to the United Nations as a state, because it’s not a state.'
Australia’s Head of Mission – Ms Gita Kamath – gave Australia’s reasons for its negative vote on admitting “Palestine” at the time of the 2011 UNESCO vote:
“Our decision to vote against reflects Australia’s strong concern that consideration of Palestinian membership in UNESCO is premature. The matter of Palestinian membership of the UN has recently been placed before the UN Security Council for its consideration. We should allow the United Nations Security Council process to run its course rather than seek first to address this question in different UN fora. Our decision also reflects our concerns with the possible implications of a successful vote on UNESCO funding.”
The Security Council course is still being run in 2019 with the finishing line nowhere in sight and UNESCO’s funding in tatters.

UNESCO’s credibility, integrity and self-created fantasy dream world has imploded.

UNESCO’s seven-year love affair with a non-existent “Palestine” has produced an international humanitarian crisis.

(Author’s note: The cartoon – commissioned exclusively for this article— is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators –  whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog)

2 comments:

  1. UNESCO serves no purpose other than to be yet another NGO financed by murderous psychopaths to destroy the west. Anyone can flip through the pages of Wikipedia for a survey of the hundreds of International Committee or Association of this or that to find what used to be a front for the Soviets or a front the OPEC states or a front for Iran or a front for some terrorist group or narco group or Muslim fascists or whathaveyou. UNESCO, by it's own charter serves no purpose associated with the wider stated function of the UN. It's a glorified Parks and Rec for the world. As long as you're Muslim, Asian, Communist or from the Stone Age. It's real purpose therefore, because it has no function in relation to its own stated orientation, is to attack the West, attack the Jews, attack Israel. That's it's only function. Like Aryan International (AI) or Human RPG Watch (HRW), it's true purpose is antisemitism.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Daniel Byman said:

    Islamic law is the law of the land
    in Saudi Arabia, and religious officials
    have tremendous sway over daily life.

    Textbooks in Saudi schools denigrate
    nonbelievers and the West and extol martyrdom.

    For example, Time magazine reported
    that “an 8th grade book states that Allah
    cursed Jews and Christians and turned
    some of them into apes and pigs.

    Ninth-graders learn that Judgment Day
    will not come “until the Muslims
    fight the Jews and kill them.”

    A chapter for a 10th-grade class warns
    Muslims against befriending non-Muslims
    saying, “It is compulsory for Muslims
    to be loyal to each other and consider
    the infidels their enemy.”

    SOURCE: Al Qaeda, the Islamic State,
    and the Global Jihadist Movement: What Everyone
    Needs to Know
    (chapter 6, page 122)
    by Daniel Byman, Oxford University Press,
    year 2015, ISBN: 019021726X (paperback)
    ISBN: 9780190217266 (paperback)
    ISBN: 0190217251 ISBN: 9780190217259

    ===================================

    ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said:

    “The US cannot look the other way while
    Saudi Arabia features anti-Semitic hate
    speech year after year in the educational
    material it gives to its children.”

    SOURCE: Despite Pledges of Change,
    Saudi Textbooks Still Rife With Anti-Semitism,
    New ADL Report Finds

    www.algemeiner.com/2018/11/20/despite-pledges-of-change-saudi-textbooks-still-rife-with-antisemitism-new-adl-report-finds/

    ===================================

    “Because their legitimacy is linked to
    their image as champions of Islam,
    Saudi leaders step gingerly in the
    world of Islamist politics and have been
    hesitant to oppose jihadist causes.”

    SOURCE: Al Qaeda, the Islamic
    State, and the Global Jihadist Movement:
    What Everyone Needs to Know

    (chapter 6, page 123) by Daniel Byman,
    Oxford University Press, year 2015,
    ISBN: 019021726X (paperback) ISBN: 9780190217266
    (paperback) ISBN: 0190217251 ISBN: 9780190217259

    ===================================

    “Nor has Saudi Arabia tackled the knotty
    issue of fire-breathing preachers and
    institutions that spread intolerance or
    aggressively tried to hinder jihadists
    who do not directly threaten the Kingdom.”

    SOURCE: Al Qaeda, the Islamic State,
    and the Global Jihadist Movement: What Everyone
    Needs to Know
    (chapter 6, page 124)
    by Daniel Byman, Oxford University Press, year 2015,
    ISBN: 019021726X (paperback) ISBN: 9780190217266
    (paperback) ISBN: 0190217251 ISBN: 9780190217259

    ===================================

    “Slavery was a flourishing institution in Arabia
    in the 1920s, and for several decades thereafter.

    It was not formally abolished in the Kingdom until 1962.

    The pilgrimage was the main source. Nigerians
    and Sudanese would sell their children in Mecca
    to help pay for their journey home, and the
    slave trade was one traditional source
    of the shareefs’ wealth.”

    “In Nejd every emir and sheikh had at least one
    black family living in his household, and their
    children were assigned as playmates to the children
    in the household of their age and sex, growing
    up with them and often becoming their
    close companions in adult life.”

    “When Prince Faisal ibn Abdul Aziz visited
    New York [City] in [year] 1944 [CE], the
    management of the Waldorf Astoria [hotel] were
    shocked that he brought his slave Merzouk with him.”

    SOURCE: The Kingdom: Arabia and
    the House of Sa'ud
    (chapter 22, page 177)
    by Robert Lacey, published in year 1981
    by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York,
    ISBN-10: 0006365094 ISBN-13: 978-0006365099

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