Egypt’s Jewish community backs country’s UNESCO candidate

Moushira Khattab

CAIRO: The head of Egypt’s minuscule Jewish community has voiced support for Moushira Khattab, the country’s UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) candidate who has been criticized by Egyptian human rights activists.
But Khattab insists in her UNESCO candidacy statement that she will uphold freedoms enshrined in the agency’s values.
Intense diplomatic wrangling has marked the race among seven candidates to become the next UNESCO director general.
Khattab has shown an impressive and “genuine commitment to our cause to protect Egypt’s Jewish heritage,” said the statement from Magda Haroun, the Jewish community’s leader.
Egypt’s Jewish community is made up of six Jews, including Magda.
A US-educated longtime diplomat, Khattab is believed to be among the front-runners for the UNESCO top post. Voting is to begin on Monday in Paris.
Khattab is running to replace Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, UNESCO’s current director.
She is the second Egyptian candidate to seek UNESCO’s top post since 2009, when former Culture Minister Farouk Hosni ran.
In Egypt, Khattab has been criticized for not speaking up against some of the government’s policies.
But Haroun said Khattab is a “courageous woman who has the talent of successfully taking on challenging causes,” citing a 1990s campaigning for women’s rights when Kattab served as a top aide to the country’s first lady at the time, Suzanne Mubarak.
Khattab has also served as chairwoman of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood.
Other leading candidates include Qian Tang of China and Qatar’s former Culture Minister Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari.
Bokova’s tenure was marred by funding troubles and tension over its inclusion of Palestine as a member.
Arab countries have long wanted to lead the organization, though divisions over Palestinian membership have complicated their push.
Voting by UNESCO’s 58-member executive board is expected to continue through the week until a candidate wins a majority.
The choice then goes to the full UNESCO general assembly next month for final approval.
A top priority for the next director will be shoring up finances at UNESCO, best known for its World Heritage program to protect cultural sites and traditions around the world.
The agency also works to improve education for girls in desperately poor countries and in scientific fields, promote better understanding of the horrors of the Holocaust, and defend media freedom, among other activities.
The US — once UNESCO’s biggest financial contributor — and Israel suspended UNESCO funding when its members voted to make Palestine a member state in 2011.
Many saw the vote as evidence of ingrained anti-Israel bias within the UN, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.
No. 2 UNESCO funder Japan then withheld its dues last year, saying it wanted to make sure UNESCO properly fosters trust among member nations — a decision widely viewed as a response to UNESCO’s listing of Chinese Rape of Nanking documents as a memory of the world. Japan disputes China’s historical views on the 1937 massacre, and a win for China in the director race could further jeopardize Japan’s financial contribution.
In interviews with The Associated Press, candidates insisted they would set aside national interests and lead UNESCO with neutrality.
But votes for the agency’s top job are routinely overshadowed by national and regional divisions.
Chinese candidate Qian said that “China does not want to replace the role of the United States.”
“I went to the State Department and I had a long discussion with officials there. I said ‘I really don’t think you Americans should give up your global responsibility especially in UNESCO,” he said.
“We need America.”