
Trump administration says the US will leave the UN cultural agency UNESCO
The decision to leave the agency, announced on Tuesday, is to take effect in December 2026. list of 3 items list 1 of 3 list 2 of 3 list 3 of 3 end of list
In a statement, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce argued that membership in UNESCO was not in the US's 'national interest' and called the agency's mission 'divisive'.
She then pointed to several points of discord, including Palestine's participation in UNESCO and alleged 'anti-Israel' sentiment in its ranks. Palestine has been a member since 2011, but the US does not recognise it as a sovereign state.
'To admit the 'State of Palestine' as a Member State is highly problematic, contrary to US policy, and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organisation,' Bruce said.
Bruce also denounced UNESCO's commitment to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, which include calls to reduce poverty, increase gender equity and fight climate change. Those goals, she said, were evidence of 'a globalist, ideological agenda'.
This is the second time that Trump has withdrawn the US from UNESCO.
In 2018, during his first term, the US likewise left the agency. Then, as now, the Trump administration cited alleged bias against Israel as a motivation.
In 2023, under then-President Joe Biden, the US rejoined UNESCO. But since taking office for a second term in January, Trump has sought to peel back Biden-era initiatives and limit US support for several international organisations.
Already, he has withdrawn US support for the World Health Organization (WHO), and in February, he issued an executive order that severed funding for the UN Human Rights Council, accusing it of protecting 'human rights abusers'.
That same order announced a review of US membership in UNESCO, to be completed in 90 days, with an emphasis on whether the agency had engaged in 'anti-Semitism or anti-Israel sentiment'.
Trump has pursued an 'America First' agenda in his second term, and White House spokesperson Anna Kelly framed the latest withdrawal from UNESCO as advancing that cause.
'President Trump has decided to withdraw from UNESCO – which supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes,' Kelly wrote on social media.
'The President will always put America First. Our membership in all international organizations must align with our national interests.'
The foreign minister of Israel, Gideon Saar, responded on social media that the US decision to exit UNESCO was yet another indication that his country has been treated unfairly on the international stage.
'This is a necessary step, designed to promote justice and Israel's right for fair treatment in the UN system, a right which has often been trampled due to politicization in this arena,' Saar wrote. 'Singling out Israel and politicization by member states must end, in this and all professional UN agencies.'
He thanked the US for its 'moral support and leadership' and called on the UN to undertake 'fundamental reforms'.
But UNESCO disputed the accusation that it had treated any of its members unfairly.
'UNESCO's purpose is to welcome all the nations of the world, and the United States of America is and always will be welcome,' UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay said.
She added that the US government's decision to withdraw was not unexpected — but that Trump's decision would not end UNESCO's engagement with other organisations in the US.
'We will continue to work hand in hand with all our American partners in the private sector, academia and non-profit organizations, and will pursue our political dialogue with the US administration and Congress,' Azoulay said.
She estimated that only about 8 percent of the agency's budget relies on the US. Staff cuts are not anticipated as a result of the US withdrawal.
The US has acted as Israel's primary diplomatic defender for decades, exerting pressure on international bodies that it perceives as critical towards its Middle East ally.
But the US itself has faced heightened scrutiny for that support since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023.
That war has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, and UN experts have called Israel's tactics 'consistent with genocide'.
Israel's continued blockade of essential supplies into Gaza has prompted fears of famine among UN leaders as well.
'We do not need to wait for a declaration of famine in Gaza to know that people are already starving, sick and dying, while food and medicines are minutes away across the border,' Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, said in May.
In a 24-hour span on Tuesday, Palestinian health officials estimated that 15 people have died of starvation, among them an infant.
But the US has been unwavering in its support of the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, despite ongoing humanitarian concerns.
Last month, the Trump administration announced sanctions targeting judges on the International Criminal Court who were involved in probes that investigated possible abuses by Israeli and US forces. The US also sanctioned Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, in July.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Al Jazeera
an hour ago
- Al Jazeera
What's in the $200m deal Trump has struck with Columbia University?
New York City-based Columbia University has agreed to pay $221m to settle claims by US President Donald Trump's administration that it failed to curb anti-Semitism on campus, in exchange for the reinstatement of billions of dollars in federal funding. The deal, agreed on Wednesday, comes after sweeping university campus protests against Israel's war in Gaza during the spring and summer of 2024 and this year were criticised as veering into anti-Semitism. In February, the government cut $400m in federal research funding for Columbia in a bid to force its administrators to respond to alleged harassment of Jewish students and faculty. The unprecedented agreement marks a victory in Trump's efforts to exert greater control over higher education, including campus activism, and could offer a framework for future deals with other universities. What's in the deal Trump has struck with Columbia? Columbia has agreed to pay $200m to the government over three years, as well as making a separate $21m payment to settle claims by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In exchange, the 'vast majority' of the frozen $400m in federal funding will be reinstated, the university said. Columbia will also regain access to billions of dollars' worth of current and future grants under the deal. Columbia is required, within 30 days, to appoint an administrator who will report to the university president and will be responsible for overseeing the deal's compliance. This includes verifying that the institution ends programmes that promote 'unlawful efforts to achieve race-based outcomes, quotas [and] diversity targets'. Additionally, Columbia must review its Middle East curriculum to make sure it is 'comprehensive and balanced' and appoint new faculty staff to its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies. Columbia said the agreement establishes Bart Schwartz, of the compliance firm Guidepost Solutions, as an independent monitor who will report to the government on its progress every six months. The university will be expected to compile a report for the monitor to ensure its programmes 'do not promote unlawful DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] goals'. Why have they come to this agreement? Columbia said the agreement formalises already-announced reforms to address harassment of Jewish students and staff, including the hiring of additional public safety personnel, changes to disciplinary processes, and efforts to foster 'an inclusive and respectful learning environment'. The dispute between Columbia and the Trump administration began after Jewish students and faculty complained of harassment on campus by pro-Palestine demonstrators, while pro-Palestinian advocates accused critics of often wrongly conflating opposition to Israel with the hatred of Jews. Columbia's acting president, Claire Shipman, said the agreement marked 'an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty'. 'The settlement was carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track. Importantly, it safeguards our independence, a critical condition for academic excellence and scholarly exploration, work that is vital to the public interest,' she added. Trump hailed the settlement as 'historic' in a post on his Truth Social platform. 'Numerous other Higher Education Institutions that have hurt so many, and been so unfair and unjust, and have wrongly spent federal money, much of it from our government, are upcoming,' he wrote. How have students and activists reacted? Student activist group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) slammed the settlement as 'a bribe'. 'Imagine selling your students out just so you can pay Trump $221 million dollars and keep funding genocide,' the group wrote on X. It added that Columbia's disciplinary action against students, including suspensions and expulsions, this week was a punishment that 'hugely' exceeded the precedent for non-Palestine-related demonstrations. Non-governmental organisation Palestine Legal accused Columbia of 'weaponising claims of antisemitism to punish those calling for freedom for Palestinians'. 'It is clear that Columbia's desire to create a community 'where all feel welcome' doesn't extend to students who call for an end to Israel's genocide,' the group posted on X. Hasan Piker, a left-wing activist, political commentator and a critic of Trump, said the US president was 'underwater on everything and Columbia is still caving to Trump on everything', adding 'it seems like some of these institutions were looking for the pretext to go right'. What steps has Columbia already taken to pacify the Trump administration? In March, Columbia agreed to a list of demands laid down by Trump in return for negotiations to reinstate its $400m federal funding, which he had revoked a month before, citing 'a failure to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment'. Among other concessions, the university agreed to ban face mask coverings during protests, as well as to install 36 campus police officers with special powers to arrest students. Earlier this month, Columbia adopted a controversial definition of anti-Semitism drafted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which has been criticised for what some say is conflating criticism of the state of Israel and Zionism with anti-Semitism. Critics have warned that the definition could be used to stifle dissent and curb academic freedom. In a letter sent to the United Nations in 2023, 60 human and civil rights organisations said the definition should not be used. 'The IHRA definition has often been used to wrongly label criticism of Israel as antisemitic, and thus chill and sometimes suppress, non-violent protest, activism and speech critical of Israel and/or Zionism, including in the US and Europe,' they wrote. On Tuesday, Columbia also announced it would suspend, expel or revoke degrees for nearly 80 students who participated in a Butler Library demonstration on its campus on May 7, 2025 and a 'Revolt for Rafah' encampment on May 31, 2024 during the university's annual alumni weekend. During protests, students demanded that the university's $14.8bn endowment stop investing in weapons makers and other companies that support Israel. Protest organiser and former student Mahmoud Khalil, 29, was the first person to be detained during the Trump administration's push to deport pro-Palestinian activists who are not US citizens. The school also said it would no longer engage with pro-Palestinian group CUAD. Which other universities has Trump set his sights on, and why? The Trump administration is focusing attention on 10 universities that it deems noteworthy in its campaign to root out anti-Semitism. These are Columbia; George Washington University; Harvard; Johns Hopkins University; New York University; Northwestern; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of Minnesota; and the University of Southern California. Columbia University was the first college to see its funding slashed, but several Ivy League schools have been subjected to or threatened with funding cuts since Trump took office in January 2024. More than $2bn in total was frozen for Cornell, Northwestern, Brown and Princeton universities. In April, the administration also threatened to freeze $510m in grants to Brown University over alleged violations 'relating to antisemitic harassment and discrimination'. Harvard University was the first – and has so far been the only – major higher education institution to defy Trump's demands and fight back in federal court. This week, it argued in federal court that the Trump administration had illegally cut $2.6bn in funding in what were politically motivated attempts to reshape the institution. Are deals with other universities expected as well? Some universities are also believed to be in talks with the Trump administration, so more deals could be forthcoming. In particular, US news outlets have reported that officials from the Trump administration and Harvard are continuing negotiations, despite the court case brought by Harvard. In June, Trump posted on social media that 'if a Settlement is made on the basis that is currently being discussed, it will be 'mindbogglingly' HISTORIC, and very good for our Country'.


Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
How Israel pushed Gaza to breaking point, ‘starving, alone, and hunted'
Through its unrelenting war on Gaza, Israel has killed over 59,000 Palestinians, injured 143,000 others, and pushed hundreds of thousands into forced starvation caused by its blockade on the enclave and its militarised distribution system. More than 100 Palestinians have starved to death as a result in recent weeks, 80 of them children. Whatever its ultimate intention, according to analysts, Israel has pushed the people of Gaza to the breaking point. 'Israeli policy has left Gaza uninhabitable,' said Derek Summerfield, a United Kingdom-based psychiatrist who has written on the effects of war and atrocity. 'It's destroyed the idea of a society and every institution that might serve it, from universities to hospitals to mosques. It's become a sociocidal war,' he added, describing a conflict intended to destroy a society's entire structures and sense of identity. 'People have been left with nothing, and are feeling they can't go on.' The constant spectre of death and the complete devastation of Gaza have driven many Palestinians there to desperation. Some are trying to leave – even temporarily – due to the horrors they have experienced and in a conflict that may continue for months or years to come. Others continue to cling to their homes in defiance of escalating Israeli aggression. The mass starvation that aid agencies have warned about has become a reality for Palestinians in Gaza, as aid workers and journalists join the ranks of the hungry and the malnourished. On Wednesday, more than 100 aid agencies issued an open letter urging the Israeli government to work with the United Nations and allow aid into Gaza. Al Jazeera has called for action to protect all journalists trapped in Gaza, many of whom are no longer able to report due to their own acute hunger and deteriorating health. AFP agency made a similar call. 'Famine isn't just physical, it's mental,' said Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University, who has written extensively on famine. 'It dehumanises and degrades the sufferer … It's the experience of – and then the memory of – having searched through garbage for food and everything you have done to survive.' 'You need to remember, starvation is an act, and as often as not a criminal one,' he continued. 'It's also one that takes time. It's not like dropping a bomb… Starvation can take 60 to 80 days. Semi-starvation, such as we're seeing in Gaza, can take longer. 'Israel has had ample and stark warnings that its actions are leading to mass starvation. This should surprise no one.' 'This isn't just about starving kids. It's about dismantling a society and reducing its people to desperate, starving victims,' de Waal added. 'It also encourages the abuser to think of the sufferer as dehumanised, so it becomes self-justifying.' Through its 21-month war, Israel's leaders have repeatedly claimed their war on Gaza was to 'defeat Hamas' and rescue the captives held in the territory. However, with every new offensive, its critics around the world have accused it of either turning a blind eye to the humanitarian consequences of its actions or actively seeking to punish Palestinians and force starvation upon them. 'I don't know if you can call this a strategy,' said Yossi Mekelberg, a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House. 'I don't know how much is planned, how much is tactical, cynical, opportunistic or just incompetence. It all depends where you look.' Mekelberg broke down the factions competing for final say in Israeli policy, from the messianic ambitions of ultranationalist government ministers, such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who would like to see the Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank expelled, to a security establishment that Mekelberg described as divided over whether it should continue or end the war. 'Lastly, you have the cynical and the opportunistic,' he continued, 'which is essentially Benjamin Netanyahu and his adherents. To them, this is all about politics and surviving for another day,' Mekelberg said of the prime minister, who is on trial on multiple corruption charges. The consequences of Israel's actions in Gaza will last generations, analysts said. Those who survive Israel's current war will carry its scars, as will their descendants, while those who leave are unlikely to be allowed to return. 'Israel has adopted a formula in the last few weeks where it is making conditions in Gaza intolerable and unable to support human life,' said Mouin Rabbani, co-editor of Jadaliyya. 'If it can reduce life to such a level and at the same time increase the level of chaos and anarchy [across Gaza], the thinking is that people will leave.' Once they have been forced from their homeland, either through the conditions that Israel has imposed, or via the one-way entrance into what Israeli government ministers call a 'humanitarian city', while many critics call it a concentration camp, it intends to construct along the border with Egypt, they won't be allowed back, Rabbani said. Hardly a day has gone by since Israel's assault upon Gaza began in October 2023 that its war has not dominated headlines. In recent weeks, as starvation and the extent of the near-total destruction that Israel has visited upon the enclave have grown, so too has the disquiet among the international community. However, in the face of the protests, and with ceasefire negotiations supposedly ongoing, Israel's war has shown few signs of slowing. That has left Gaza's population, in the words of Summerfield, left to 'wander Gaza; starving, alone and hunted'.


Al Jazeera
7 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump interfering in Brazil's legal process
Trump interfering in Brazil's legal process Compare & Contrast We compare and contrast how Donald Trump stayed silent when Brazil's leftist leader Lula da Silva was jailed in 2018, but has been loudly condemning the current prosecution of his far-right ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro, as a 'witch hunt'. Video Duration 00 minutes 46 seconds 00:46 Video Duration 00 minutes 53 seconds 00:53 Video Duration 00 minutes 49 seconds 00:49 Video Duration 01 minutes 12 seconds 01:12 Video Duration 01 minutes 39 seconds 01:39 Video Duration 01 minutes 20 seconds 01:20 Video Duration 00 minutes 50 seconds 00:50