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The United States withdraws from UNESCO

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Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#771

Post by SllX »

rs186 wrote: post #394
nsypteras wrote: post #295

1984: U.S. withdraws. 2003: U.S. rejoins. 2011: U.S. stops paying dues after Palestine joins. 2017: U.S. announces withdrawal (effective end of 2018). 2023: U.S. rejoins, pledges to repay dues. 2025: U.S announces withdrawal Seems to be a revolving door

Makes me wonder if officials at UNESCO even cares about the decision. "Oh that again?" Probably already used to this.

They’re never happy about the loss of money. For UN institutions, the US usually contributes a theoretical cap of about 22% but in real terms I think it’s more like a quarter of their annual budget or a little over in some cases. When we’re not paying, that’s a lot of money that UNESCO isn’t getting.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#772

Post by ActorNightly »

lbrito wrote: post #741
kennywinker wrote: post #251

The US is complicit in the intentional starvation of gaza’s people by israel. At least 15 people have starved to death in the last 24 hours, including an infant. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/israel-gaza-war-hunger-childre... Ragequitting UNESCO over their recognition of palestine is a small part of the project of supporting the ethnic cleansing of gaza and the west bank.

This must be the UN headquarters. Flags everywhere.

For whatever reason, the Palestine/Israel conflict causes people to just stop being rational. Like, the facts are there, both parties attack each other as part of the conflict throughout history, but for whatever reason, people really want to pick sides on this one, and Im not sure why.

Its not the genocide aspect - there are other genocides that are happening (Myanmar for example) that don't cause this reaction. Don't think its anti antisemitism either, as you don't see a lot of narratives that come with traditional rhetoric of that type.

Whoever is pushing media out on this is must have figured something out in the format to make people this polarized.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#773

Post by austin-cheney »

ActorNightly wrote: post #772
lbrito wrote: post #741

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This must be the UN headquarters. Flags everywhere.

For whatever reason, the Palestine/Israel conflict causes people to just stop being rational. Like, the facts are there, both parties attack each other as part of the conflict throughout history, but for whatever reason, people really want to pick sides on this one, and Im not sure why. Its not the genocide aspect - there are other genocides that are happening (Myanmar for example) that don't cause this reaction. Don…

Nobody has been able to explain to me how the Israel/Palestine issue is fundamentally different from the Serbia/Bosnia/Kosovo issue of the 1990s. Its weird the mental gymnastics people will go through to qualify any position in either of these events.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#774

Post by ilaksh »

DemiGuru wrote: post #767
ilaksh wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't say I thought it was objectively righteous. I didn't say anything about my worldview. It seems objective that many civilians have been killed and a lot of land stolen. But my point is that things that seem objective to one group of people might be objectively false to another group. Which isn't to say that there is no real truth. Just that the premises people hold are so different that the worlds are not com…

"...a lot of land stolen" let me just say that your limited understanding is painful.

Can you explain? I'm going to ignore your arrogant decision because I am genuinely curious. What is it about Israeli "settlements" that makes it different from stealing land?

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#775

Post by crabbone »

kennywinker wrote: post #314
crabbone wrote: post #249

This is in response to the flagged comment that, apparently, I cannot comment on. I'm not thrilled about what current US administration is doing when it comes to international NGOs. UNESCO is one example. However, there's also another problem: various UN bodies became tools for international politics instead of doing what they were originally designed to do. It's another example of good will easily subverted by malic…

UNICEF’s mission is “providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide” Children in gaza are being intentionally starved by israel blocking food aid. At least 15 people including one infant have been starved to death in the past 24 hours. UNESCO’s mission is preservation of cultural heritage. Gaza and the west bank are being ethnically cleansed, and their arts and culture have already been physically…

Absolutely, children in Gaza, just like in many other war-torn places need help.

The problem is that UNICEF doesn't just provide help. It feels entitled to come up with resolutions that put the blame on one of the parties in the conflict. They aren't military experts. They don't honestly know how the situation came to be the way it is... they shouldn't be talking about it.

Because, what happens is that while they aren't the experts on the subject they choose to opine on, they have a large audience who will listen to them (for other reasons), and they can be mistaken for experts.

When you read an opinion piece from a newspaper, or listen to a politician talking about the issue, you would be right to assume that these people have a degree of familiarity and expertise in the subject they are talking about. Of course, the world isn't ideal, and often times these sources also lack expertise, but this is where the opinions and information should come from. Newspapers are held accountable through various policies for what they publish. So are politicians. But a UNICEF officer, when it comes to politics, is just a private person, like you and I... except they aren't treated like you and I.

---

Just to illustrate this further. You believe that:

> Children in gaza are being intentionally starved by israel blocking food aid.

But this is propaganda. There's no way to substantiate this claim. Israeli side claims that Hamas is hoarding aid (or was hoarding, until Israel created an alternative aid distributing organization). So, the aid was coming through, but Hamas used it to extract resources and favors from its constituents.

Maybe true. Maybe not. Neither you nor I know this for a fact. The investigation hasn't commenced yet. And neither you nor I are experts with enough information about the situation on the ground to have reasonable grounds to believe one way or another. Neither is UNICEF. And yet they go out and proclaim that they are, and that the situation is the way they want to see it... And here you are, trapped in this propaganda stream, repeating something you have no actual reason to believe.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#776

Post by lbrito »

ActorNightly wrote: post #768
lbrito wrote: post #742

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there an ongoing genocide happening in the US?

There are other genocides happening in Myanmar and Sudan that nobody talks about. And as far as US, you had a distinct movement that was against Kamala specifically because she was pro Israel. I really don't understand the obsession with this particular conflict to the point where you feel like you are in the moral right by essentially punishing US people and making it worse for the people you care about (in terms of…

>There are other genocides happening in Myanmar and Sudan that nobody talks about.

Sounds a lot like whataboutism. I heard a lot of that term going around whenever anyone dared mention any non-mainstream talking point about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but funnily enough, no one seems to talk about now.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#777

Post by Dig1t »

rafram wrote: post #441
cooper_ganglia wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, it was a Democrat president enforcing laws passed by a Democrat-controlled House and Senate in 1990 and 1994, under at least one Democrat president. There are no real "sides" when it comes to the U.S. and Israel. Every party bends the knee and kisses the wall. It’s one big club, and we’re not in it.

> It’s one big club, and we’re not in it. I’m not sure what you’re trying to imply here, but like it or not, most Americans do support Israel.

>most Americans do support Israel

This is just not true. Most Americans are actually unaware how much influence Israel and its lobby has over our politicians and are also mostly unaware of what is actually happening over there.

There is a set of evangelical Christians who have misinterpreted a passage in the book of Genesis to mean that blessing the tribe of Israel means sending unlimited weapons to the modern nation state of Israel. But that is not even close to the majority of Americans.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#778

Post by Tadpole9181 »

BuyMyBitcoins wrote: post #459
Tadpole9181 wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They attempted to violently overthrow the US government by taking over Congress in 2021 and went so far as constructing a noose to hang their own vice president. They suffered absolutely zero consequences for this and the perpetrators have now been pardoned with no political backlash. Why exactly wouldn't they do this? Now that the SCOTUS says they're even immune from prosecution, you'd have to be an idiot not to try…

Said noose was some poorly tied nylon rope affixed to a rinky-dink prop gallows on the front lawn. It was some protestor’s prop, and a really shoddy one at that. Most photos don’t convey the actual size of it, because they just focus on the top crossbar, but even so, you can see just how ineffective that “noose” would be. If you search for a photo that shows it in full, you will see that a person could easily stand u…

> It was a bad noose prop, they were just threatening to murder elected officials if they didn't install the unelected dictator who directed them to do this.

> Sure, they were at the event where people violently broke through police, into the capital, into offices and the chamber, looking for public officials with zip ties while chanting for death to specific members of Congress and the vice president... But the people with this specific noose prop probably only had good intentions.

It feels like every political discussion has just become an absolute clown show.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#779

Post by EasyMark »

cooper_ganglia wrote: post #239

Obama withdrew all US funds from UNESCO in 2011 as well, due to Palestine being admitted in. This isn't anything particularly noteworthy, just more capitulating to Israel, which is annoying.

I really wish we weren't a puppet state of Israel. What they're doing in Palestine currently turns my stomach. It's one thing to get your people back after the horrible attack from Hamas, it's another to mow down people who are just trying to get food with a submachine gun.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#780

Post by [deleted] »

Dig1t wrote: post #777
rafram wrote: post #441

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s one big club, and we’re not in it. I’m not sure what you’re trying to imply here, but like it or not, most Americans do support Israel.

>most Americans do support Israel This is just not true. Most Americans are actually unaware how much influence Israel and its lobby has over our politicians and are also mostly unaware of what is actually happening over there. There is a set of evangelical Christians who have misinterpreted a passage in the book of Genesis to mean that blessing the tribe of Israel means sending unlimited weapons to the modern nation…

[deleted]
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