US, Israel Lose UNESCO Voting Right in Dispute Over Palestinians

The U.S. loses its vote at the Paris-based U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) following Washington's decision in 2011 to cut all funding to the U.N. agency over the vote giving Palestine member-state status

 The suspension of U.S. contributions, which account for $80 million a year — 22 % of UNESCO's overall budget — brought the agency to the brink of a financial crisis and forced it to cut or scale back American-led initiatives such as Holocaust education and tsunami research over the past two years

UN cultural agency UNESCO has suspended US voting rights after Washington skipped a deadline for paying its dues.

The US stopped its contributions, which make up about a fifth of the agency's funding, when Unesco gave the Palestinians membership in 2011.
Israel, which halted its dues at the same time, has also had its Unesco voting rights suspended.
The US and Israel said admitting the Palestinians was a misguided attempt to bypass the Middle East peace process

The USA's Ambassador to UNESCO, David Killion, told"We intend to continue our engagement with Unesco in every possible way."

The US, however, has said it cannot legally contribute to a UN agency that implies recognition of a Palestinian state
Israel's Ambassador to UNESCO, Nimrod Barkan, told that his country supported the US decision, "objecting to the politicisation of Unesco, or any international organisation, with the accession of a non-existing country like Palestine"

The Palestinian Ambassador to UNESCO, Elias Sanbar, said other countries were beginning to make up for the funding vacuum left by the US.
But he added: "Is this in the interest of the US, to be replaced?"

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova lamented the changes that are not only seeing America silenced within her organization but also bringing UNESCO financially to its knees.
"I regret to say that I'm seeing, in these last two years ... a declining American influence and American involvement," Irina Bokova told

 

UNESCO,the Paris-based agency is charged with designating World Heritage sites, promoting education and supporting press freedom, as well as countering extremism.