A floor fight during the biennial convention here of the United Nations Association of the United States forced a vote declaring that the association “unreservedly” condemned the “blatantly discriminatory actions” of UNESCO general conferences against Israel. The 91-71 vote last Thursday also deplored the “politicization” of UNESCO and called on the U.S. government “to exert every effort to bring about a reversal of the discriminatory actions against Israel.” In one of these actions, a UNESCO conference voted to bar Israel from membership in UNESCO’s European grouping.
The vote overturned a 9-1 vote of the association’s substantive issues committee last Wednesday which while condemning UNESCO anti-Israel decisions, criticized the U.S. Congress for cutting off the $19 million annual appropriation to UNESCO and urged restoration of the funds, according to William Korey, of B’nai B’rith, one of the organizations affiliated with the association. Korey, the only Jewish representative on the committee, led the floor fight, with other Jewish representatives joining.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
