Obama Does His Best to Give Zion-Loathing UNESCO a Whack of Cash

UNESCO is but one of a plethora of UN agencies engaged in the thrilling business of throttling the Jewish state. UNESCO's effort, though, is especially pernicious since, under the guise of championing cultural causes, it has become the designated ball carrier for Palestinian statehood/delegitimization of Israel (an effort that is so over the top that the Russians, of all people, have balked at it). Yet now, when money is supposedly so tight due to the sequester, the U.S. is falling all over itself trying to give UNESCO big bucks. Fox News reports that the Obama administration is currently renewing

its campaign to give about $77.8 million next year to the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, an annual contribution that Congress cut off in late 2011 when the organization gave full member-state status to Palestine over strong U.S. objections. The State Department tried to restore the money in 2012, but failed. 

This time, in fact, the Administration hopes to give far more money to UNESCO even than the budget openly advertises. 

Buried in a footnote to the 190-page State Department is the news that if the Administration can coax Congress into granting a waiver to the freeze, State hopes to hand over the money it did not provide in 2012 and 2013, which could amount to another $135 million. 

Both the main UNESCO contribution and the largesse in the footnote are  bad ideas, according to those who argue that such concessions as the UNESCO recognition help to keep Palestinians from seriously joining the bargaining table with Israel to achieve a lasting Middle East peace settlement. 

“The only reason that Palestine has not extended its push for recognition with other U.N. organization is the threat of the loss of U.S. funding,” says Brett Schaefer, an expert on U.N. finances at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “If congress gives in to State’s budget request, we would be giving a signal for just such a diplomatic offensive.”...

"Offensive"? You can say that again, buster! 

Gee, I wonder if some of these shekels (should the money flow be restarted) will go to fund the latest cultural attraction in the West Bank--the "naqba" museum?

Update: Defund the sucker (and the dreadful UN "Human Rights" Council too), says Michael Rubin:

The idea that either the Council or UNESCO has credibility or deserves U.S. support has increasingly become risible. The Council has certainly embarrassed itself over the past several years, with members like Cuba, Saudi Arabia, China and Russia taking seats. Perhaps greater things could be expected from UNESCO, however. Alas, the sickness which runs through the United Nations is widespread. At a meeting in Paris earlier this week, UNESCO allowed Syria to preside as a judge over its human rights committee. This is the same Syrian government that has both masterminded the mass murder of tens of thousands of civilians and allegedly deployed chemical weapons against civilians. Nothing better symbolizes the judgment and moral bankruptcy of the United Nations than such a session.