United States says it will withdraw from UNESCO
The United States on Tuesday announced its decision to withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, citing concerns about “anti-Israel rhetoric” and the promotion of “divisive” agendas.
President Donald Trump had pulled out of the organisation in 2017 as well during his first term, a decision that his successor Joe Biden had reversed.
US Department of State Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on Tuesday that Washington’s continued involvement in UNESCO was “not in the national interest” of the country.
UNESCO is a body of the United Nations that promotes world peace through international cooperation in culture, arts, education and sciences.
Bruce accused the organisation of advancing “divisive social and cultural causes”.
“UNESCO…maintains an outsized focus on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, a globalist, ideological agenda for international development at odds with our America First foreign policy,” she said.
The spokesperson also criticised the body’s 2011 decision to admit Palestine as a member state, calling it “highly problematic” and a contributor to “anti-Israel rhetoric within the organisation”.
Washington is an ally of Israel and acts as a guarantor of the country’s security. Both the US and Israel had stopped financing UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member state.
In a social media post, Bruce said that “going forward, US participation in international organisations must make America...
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