UNESCO Condemns Israel on Israel's 69th Birthday

UNESCO's Executive Committee voted on Israel's birthday to do the bidding of Israel's Arab enemies and rejected Israeli sovereignty over its capital city of Jerusalem. The resolution was adopted by a vote of 22 in favor and 10 against, with 23 abstaining. While several European delegations voted against the resolution, Sweden voted in favor while France, Albania, Spain, and Estonia simply abstained. Germany, which had toyed with the idea of voting in favor of the resolution, changed its mind in the final hours and voted against the resolution along with Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Ukraine. The United States also voted no.

The vote total was: 22 in favor (South Africa, Algeria, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, Russia, Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Senegal, Sudan, Sweden, Chad, Vietnam), 10 against (Germany, United States, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Paraguay, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Togo, Ukraine), and 23 abstentions (Albania, Argentina, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, El Salvador, Spain, Estonia, France, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti, India, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Mozambique, Uganda, Republic of Korea, Dominican Republic, St. Kitts and Nevis, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago).