Palestine wins recognition from UN body
Source: Agencies |
November 1, 2011, Tuesday
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PALESTINE became a full member of UNESCO yesterday in a divisive move that could cost the agency a fifth of its budget, and that the US and other opponents say could harm renewed Mideast peace efforts.
Lawmakers in the US, which provides about 22 percent of funding for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, had threatened to halt about US$80 million in annual grants if Palestinian membership was approved.
There were cheers when delegates approved the UNESCO membership in a vote of 107-14 with 52 abstentions.
"Long live Palestine," shouted one delegate, in French, at the unusually tense and dramatic meeting of UNESCO's general conference.
The UN agency protects historic heritage sites and works to improve world literacy and cultural understanding, but it has also been criticized in the past for being a forum for anti-Israel sentiment. The US pulled out of UNESCO under President Ronald Reagan but rejoined under President George W. Bush.
Yesterday's vote is a symbolic breakthrough but is not enough to make Palestine into a state. The issue of such a state's borders, security troubles and other disputes that have thwarted Middle East peace for decades remain unresolved.
Palestinian officials are seeking full membership in the UN, but that effort is still under examination and the US has said it will veto the move unless there is a peace deal with Israel. The Palestinians then separately sought membership to Paris-based UNESCO and other UN bodies.
Yesterday's vote is definitive. The membership takes effect when Palestine signs UNESCO's founding charter.
The US ambassador to UNESCO, David Killion, said the vote will "complicate" US efforts to support the agency. The US voted against the measure.
Israel's ambassador to UNESCO, Nimrod Barkan, called the vote a tragedy. "UNESCO deals in science, not science fiction," he said. "They forced on UNESCO a political subject out of its competence. They have forced a drastic cut in contributions to the organization."
US law permits Washington to cut funding to any UN body that accepts members without the "internationally recognized attributes of statehood." That requirement is generally interpreted to mean UN membership.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week called UNESCO's deliberation "inexplicable," saying discussion of Palestinian membership in international organizations could not replace negotiations with Israel.
Ghasan Khatib, a spokesman for the Palestinian government in the West Bank urged the US to maintain UNESCO funding.
He called UNESCO's decision "a vote of confidence from the international community."
He added: "We look on this vote as especially important because part of our battle with the Israeli occupation is about attempts to erase the Palestinian history. The UNESCO vote will help us to maintain the Palestinian traditional heritage."
Lawmakers in the US, which provides about 22 percent of funding for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, had threatened to halt about US$80 million in annual grants if Palestinian membership was approved.
There were cheers when delegates approved the UNESCO membership in a vote of 107-14 with 52 abstentions.
"Long live Palestine," shouted one delegate, in French, at the unusually tense and dramatic meeting of UNESCO's general conference.
The UN agency protects historic heritage sites and works to improve world literacy and cultural understanding, but it has also been criticized in the past for being a forum for anti-Israel sentiment. The US pulled out of UNESCO under President Ronald Reagan but rejoined under President George W. Bush.
Yesterday's vote is a symbolic breakthrough but is not enough to make Palestine into a state. The issue of such a state's borders, security troubles and other disputes that have thwarted Middle East peace for decades remain unresolved.
Palestinian officials are seeking full membership in the UN, but that effort is still under examination and the US has said it will veto the move unless there is a peace deal with Israel. The Palestinians then separately sought membership to Paris-based UNESCO and other UN bodies.
Yesterday's vote is definitive. The membership takes effect when Palestine signs UNESCO's founding charter.
The US ambassador to UNESCO, David Killion, said the vote will "complicate" US efforts to support the agency. The US voted against the measure.
Israel's ambassador to UNESCO, Nimrod Barkan, called the vote a tragedy. "UNESCO deals in science, not science fiction," he said. "They forced on UNESCO a political subject out of its competence. They have forced a drastic cut in contributions to the organization."
US law permits Washington to cut funding to any UN body that accepts members without the "internationally recognized attributes of statehood." That requirement is generally interpreted to mean UN membership.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week called UNESCO's deliberation "inexplicable," saying discussion of Palestinian membership in international organizations could not replace negotiations with Israel.
Ghasan Khatib, a spokesman for the Palestinian government in the West Bank urged the US to maintain UNESCO funding.
He called UNESCO's decision "a vote of confidence from the international community."
He added: "We look on this vote as especially important because part of our battle with the Israeli occupation is about attempts to erase the Palestinian history. The UNESCO vote will help us to maintain the Palestinian traditional heritage."
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