The president Donald Trump signed an executive order this Tuesday to withdraw the United States from the UN Human Rights Council and to maintain the suspension of funds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
The decision is part of his policy of rejecting international organizations that, according to him, have shown an "anti-American bias."
The announcement coincided with the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.
"I am pleased to announce that this afternoon the U.S. has withdrawn from the anti-Semitic UN Human Rights Council, and has terminated all funding to UNRWA, which channeled money to Hamas and has been very disloyal to humanity," said Trump.
In its statement, the White House argued that the Human Rights Council has allowed "countries like Iran, China, and Cuba to use it to shield themselves despite their serious violations and abuses of human rights."
Will Scharf, Trump’s advisor, stated when presenting the document to the president for his signature that the decree also aims to "review the U.S. involvement in UNESCO," the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, "which has also demonstrated an anti-American bias," he reiterated.
Freezing of UNRWA funds
The executive order formalizes the freezing of funds to UNRWA, an agency that provides support to more than five million Palestinian refugees.
In November, the Israeli parliament approved two laws that prohibited all activity of the agency in the country and severely restricted its operations in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. The ban came into effect last week, increasing uncertainty about the organization's future.
The accusations that UNRWA employees participated in the massacre on October 7 have intensified the rejection of the agency in Israel.
However, the UN dismissed nine employees and opened an investigation, which determined that there was no concrete evidence to support the more serious allegations.
Despite this, in January 2023, the U.S. Congress suspended funding for UNRWA until at least March of this year. With Trump's signature, the chances of resuming U.S. financial support for the agency have been definitively closed, as just a few years ago it was its largest donor, contributing between 300 and 400 million dollars annually.
The executive order also instructs Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prepare a report on which organizations, conventions, or international treaties promote "anti-American or radical sentiments".
Among the mentioned organizations is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), from which Trump had already withdrawn the U.S. during his first term, citing its alleged "anti-Israel bias."
The relationship between the U.S. and the UN Human Rights Council has been inconsistent. Trump had already withdrawn his country from this body in 2018, claiming it housed "human rights violators" and maintained a bias against Israel.
However, Joe Biden rejoined the U.S. after taking office in 2021, leading to Washington being elected as a member of the Council for the 2022-2024 term.
With this new decision, Trump takes another step in his strategy of distancing himself from international organizations, a policy he already implemented with his withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organization (WHO) during his first term.
Now, with a second term in the White House, the Republican reinforces his stance of "restoring order" in global affairs according to his vision, further distancing the U.S. from multilateral instances.
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