UNESCO and Israel

THE UNITED NATIONS Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization was wrong to exclude Israel from its regional groupings, and the Harvard professors who signed an advertisement attacking UNESCO in yesterday's Crimson are right in opposing the move.

It's possible to imagine cases in which UNESCO would be right to exclude a government from its activities--a government whose public activities seemed to clearly exclude the promotion of culture, science and education. Lots of governments that might fit this categorization are in UNESCO now--Libya and the Soviet Union, both of which supported Israel's expulsion, are among them--but it would be absurd to argue that Israel, despite its repression of political activities in the territories it occupies, is a prime offender.