President Trump\u2019s Feb. 4 executive order mandated a review of U.S. membership in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or Unesco. A decision is due by May 5. The proceedings of Unesco\u2019s executive board meeting in Paris this month demonstrate that the organization is beyond reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year, three of the 11 \u2018program issues\u2019 on the agenda related to criticism of Israel. Two of the three \u2018general matters\u2019 items revolved around \u2018occupied Palestine\u2019 and \u2018the occupied Arab territories.\u2019 Ukraine and Syria merited only one item each at the entire two-week conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A meeting document on \u2018the current situation in the Gaza Strip\/Palestine\u2019 decried damage to educational institutions in Gaza and the killing of journalists. It failed to mention either that Hamas uses schools as terrorist bases or that many journalists in Gaza are affiliated with Hamas. The 17-page report, which asks for tens of millions of dollars from member states in \u2018extrabudgetary support\u2019 for Gaza, doesn\u2019t mention Hamas at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If this is how the organization conducts itself as U.S. membership hangs in the balance, hopes of genuine reform are chimerical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This has played out before. In 1984 Ronald Reagan withdrew the U.S. from Unesco over the organization\u2019s politicization. George W. Bush rejoined in 2003, beguiled by claims of reform. But in the years that followed, Unesco admitted the \u2018State of Palestine\u2019 as a full member, passed resolutions denying the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, and designated Jewish holy places as \u2018Palestinian World Heritage sites.\u2019 This led Mr. Trump to pull the U.S. out of Unesco in 2018, only for President Biden to reverse the move five years later. Unesco\u2019s erasure of Jewish history still stands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Trump was right the first time\u2014and the organization hasn\u2019t improved since. In addition to opposing Israel, Unesco has supported a variety of left-wing causes, including inserting transgender ideology into public-school curricula and strengthening \u2018research and measures to address disinformation seeking to delay and derail climate action.\u2019 One item at this year\u2019s executive board meeting focused on Unesco\u2019s \u2018Transforming MENtalities\u2019 program, which is dedicated to \u2018combatting harmful norms of masculinity\u2019 by publishing global reports such as \u2018The Gender Equality Quest in Video Games.\u2019 Another meeting item highlighted Unesco\u2019s \u2018Global Alliance Against Racism and Discriminations,\u2019 which advocates \u2018intersectionality and the adoption of a transversal approachto address inequalities across sectors of government.\u2019 The initiative is guided by Unesco\u2019s \u2018Anti-Racism Toolkit,\u2019 which demands that governments and organizations undergo an \u2018audit of racial equality,\u2019 a six-step process that starts with \u2018an explicit recognition of structural racism\u2019 and ends with a commitment to \u2018systemic and cultural changes.\u2019 Many such policies are now illegal in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. should quit Unesco as quickly as possible\u2014and encourage its allies to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n