Friday, April 03, 2009

Anecdote: Golda Meir On The PLO And UNESCO

Jay Nordlinger compares Obama's decision to join The UN Human Rights Council in the context of how the US withdrew both from The UNHRC and UNESCO. In a postscript to that post, Nordlinger recalls:
Bernard Lewis once told me a story about Golda Meir at Princeton. She did not give a speech. She just said, “Look, you know my views. You know my outlook on the world. I have been a public figure for a long time. Why don’t you just ask me some questions.”

So, during this session, someone said, “Why is it that the PLO belongs to UNESCO while Israel does not?” (Israel was forbidden to join, of course.) And Golda said, “Well, let’s see: ‘UNESCO’ stands for ‘United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.’ Obviously, the Palestinians have more to contribute to education, science, and culture than we do.”

 

Sometimes, sarcasm is the most effective tool in the box.

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