China withdraws candidate to lead Unesco and backs Egypt after US and Israel quit heritage body
Beijing to support Moushira Khattab’s candidacy to head the UN cultural agency after its leading donor quits in protest over ‘anti-Israel’ bias
China has withdrawn its candidate to be director general of Unesco in favour of Egypt’s candidate Moushira Khattab.
The announcement follows the decision by the United States and Israel to pull out of the UN’s cultural agency in protest at what they claim is an “anti-Israel bias”.
The body has been critical of Israel in the past and the decision to nominate the West Bank city of Hebron as a Palestinian world heritage site angered Israel, which wanted its long Jewish history to be recognised.
The withdrawal of the United States, which is meant to provide a fifth of Unesco’s funding, is a major blow for the Paris-based organisation founded after the Second World War to help protect cultural and natural heritage around the world.