PARIS: The United Nations’ cultural agency selected former Egyptian tourism and antiquities minister Khaled El-Enany as its new chief on Monday, handing him the keys to revive UNESCO’s fortunes after the US withdrew from it for a second time.
El-Enany, 54, was up against Édouard Firmin Matoko, 69, of Republic of Congo, but had been the favorite to win the secret ballot for a four-year term, having launched his campaign early in April 2023.
He had since built strong regional backing and international alliances.
UNESCO’s board, which represents 58 of the agency’s 194 member states, elected him with 55 votes. Matoko won two votes. The United States did not vote.
The selection will now be put forward for approval to UNESCO members on November 6.
While outgoing chief Audrey Azoulay has worked to diversify funding sources, the UN culture and education agency still receives about 8 percent of its budget from Washington.
Once the US withdrawal takes effect at the end of 2026, that funding will be cut.
The White House described UNESCO as supporting “woke, divisive cultural and social causes” when Trump decided to pull the US out in July, repeating a move he took in his first term that was reversed by Joe Biden.
The agency, founded after World War Two to promote peace through international cooperation in education, science, and culture, is best known for designating and protecting archaeological and heritage sites, from the Galapagos Islands to the tombs of Timbuktu.
“How come a country like Egypt, with its long history, with layers of Pharaonic, Greek, Roman, Coptic, Arab, Islamic civilization, has not led this important organization? This is not acceptable at all,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said in Paris last week.
But El-Enany has faced criticism at home from conservationists who accused his ministry of failing to shield sensitive heritage sites in Cairo and the Sinai Peninsula.
Azoulay, from France, has completed the maximum two four-year terms.
UNESCO selects Egypt’s Khaled El-Enany as new chief
https://arab.news/n5zfp
UNESCO selects Egypt’s Khaled El-Enany as new chief
- Khaled El-Enany, 54, is a former Egyptian tourism and antiquities minister
- He had been the favorite to win the secret ballot for a four-year term
Family of Palestinian-American shot dead by Israeli settler demand accountability
- Relatives say Abu Siyam was among about 30 residents from the village of Mukhmas who confronted armed settlers attempting to steal goats from the community
LONDON: The family of a 19-year-old Palestinian-American man reportedly shot dead by an Israeli settler in the occupied West Bank have demanded accountability, amid mounting scrutiny over a surge in settler violence and a lack of prosecutions.
Nasrallah Abu Siyam, a US citizen born in Philadelphia, was killed near the city of Ramallah on Wednesday, becoming at least the sixth American citizen to die in incidents involving Israeli settlers or soldiers in the territory in the past two years.
Relatives say Abu Siyam was among about 30 residents from the village of Mukhmas who confronted armed settlers attempting to steal goats from the community. Witnesses said that stones were thrown by both sides before settlers opened fire, wounding at least three villagers.
Abu Siyam was struck and later died of his injuries.
Abdulhamid Siyam, the victim’s cousin, said the killing reflected a wider pattern of impunity.
“A young man of 19 shot and killed in cold blood, and no responsibility,” he told the BBC. “Impunity completely.”
The US State Department said that it was aware of the death of a US citizen and was “carefully monitoring the situation,” while the Trump administration said that it stood ready to provide consular assistance.
The Israeli embassy in Washington said the incident was under review and that an operational inquiry “must be completed as soon as possible.”
A spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces said troops were deployed to the scene and used “riot dispersal means to restore order,” adding that no IDF gunfire was reported.
The military confirmed that the incident remained under review and said that a continued presence would be maintained in the area to prevent further unrest.
Palestinians and human rights organizations say such reviews rarely lead to criminal accountability, arguing that Israeli authorities routinely fail to prosecute settlers accused of violence.
A US embassy spokesperson later said that Washington “condemns this violence,” as international concern continues to grow over conditions in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinians and human rights groups say Israeli authorities routinely fail to investigate or prosecute settlers accused of violence against civilians.
Those concerns were echoed this week by the UN, which warned that Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank may amount to ethnic cleansing.
A UN human rights office report on Thursday said that Israeli settlement expansion, settler attacks and military operations have increasingly displaced Palestinian communities, with dozens of villages reportedly emptied since the start of the Gaza war.
The report also criticized Israeli military tactics in the northern West Bank, saying that they resembled warfare and led to mass displacement, while noting abuses by Palestinian security forces, including the use of unnecessary lethal force and the intimidation of critics.
Neither Israel’s foreign ministry nor the Palestinian Authority has commented on the findings.
