United Nations Body Accused of Anti-Israel Bias Launches Teacher Trainings on Antisemitism

"The United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), an organization which has received persistent criticism for anti-Israel bias, has partnered with several US-based organizations to launch a new training program aimed at fighting antisemitism and Holocaust denial in schools.

UNESCO, the University of Southern California’s Shoah Foundation, the American Jewish Committee (AJC), and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) are jointly opening the 'Shine a Light' online training course to over one million AFT teachers, allowing those who participate to earn professional credits, UNESCO announced earlier this month in a press release.

'Participants will develop their knowledge, skills, and confidence to teach about antisemitism and to dismantle antisemitic stereotypes,' UNESCO said. 'They will also learn strategies to address antisemitic incidents in schools, and to respond effectively to conspiracy theories including Holocaust denial and distortion.'...

UNESCO has had a troubled relationship with Israel and the Jewish people. In 2016 its World Heritage Committee passed a resolution, titled “The Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls,” designating holy sites in Jerusalem that excluded Jewish names for the Temple Mount, calling it only the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Later, in 2019, however, it removed from its List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity a carnival featuring floats that stereotypically caricatured Orthodox Jews with large noses and bags of money around their feet.

Israel is currently not a member of UNESCO after deciding, along with the US, to withdraw from the body in 2019..."