U.S. Withdrawal from UNESCO is a Regrettable and Erroneous Decision

U.S. Withdrawal from UNESCO is a Regrettable and Erroneous Decision

The State of Palestine expresses is its deep regret over the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), an organization dedicated to education, culture, and the preservation of tangible and intangible heritage.
Palestine firmly rejects the justifications provided by the United States for its withdrawal, considering them an unacceptable politicization of UNESCO's work and a failed attempt to deflect attention from the violations committed by Israel, the illegal occupying Power, against heritage, culture, and archaeological sites in Palestine, as well as in other areas such as education, science, media, and the environment.
The State of Palestine calls on the United States to cease granting Israel impunity in international forums. It emphasized that the United States should not bind its own international standing to the crimes and violations committed by Israel. Otherwise, it would find itself compelled to withdraw from the entire multilateral international system, in order to shield Israel from accountability, thus encouraging it to continue perpetrating its crimes as a rogue state operating outside the framework of international legality.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the State of Palestine, through its delegation to UNESCO, has consistently worked in good faith with the organization's member states, the Secretariat and the Arab group to adopt consensus-based decisions concerning Palestine. These resolutions aim to safeguard Palestinian tangible and intangible heritage from violations and from the systematic destruction carried out by Israel, particularly in Jerusalem and throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The Ministry affirms that the State of Palestine will continue to fulfill its responsibility to protect the Palestinian people and their rights, including their political, economic, cultural, and social rights, and will preserve their deeply rooted cultural heritage, through continued cooperation with all international and human rights institutions, including UNESCO.