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UNESCO grants Palestinians full membership - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
And the US is throwing a hissy fit.
U.S. cuts funding for UNESCO after Palestinian vote - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
Mod note: Discussion on the ramifications/repercussions/retaliations on UNESCO or Palestine belong in Nico's Bus (where a thread for that already exists). Discussion on other aspects, such as whether more international bodies will follow and what this means for Palestine's efforts to regain their status as an international state, is acceptable here.
The United Nations' cultural agency decided on Monday to give the Palestinians full membership of the body, a vote that will boost their bid for recognition as a state at the United Nations.
UNESCO is the first UN agency the Palestinians have sought to join as a full member since President Mahmoud Abbas applied for full membership of the United Nations on Sept. 23.
The motion to admit the Palestinians was passed by UNESCO members meeting in Paris, with 107 votes in favor, 14 against and 52 abstentions.
The United States, Canada and Germany voted against Palestinian membership. Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa and France voted in favor. Britain abstained.
U.S. lawmakers had threatened to withhold some $80 million in funding to UNESCO if it approved Palestinian membership.
The U.S. is the biggest contributor to UNESCO, accounting for 22 percent of its $653 million budget.
U.S. officials opposed the Palestinian UNESCO request and say it could harm renewed efforts for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Huge cheers went up in UNESCO after delegates voted to approve the membership on Monday. One shouted "Long Live Palestine!" in French.
Palestinian officials are seeking full membership in the United Nations, but because that effort is expected to take some time, they separately pursued membership at Paris-based UNESCO.
And the US is throwing a hissy fit.
U.S. cuts funding for UNESCO after Palestinian vote - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
The Obama administration is cutting off funding for the UN cultural agency because it approved a Palestinian bid for full membership.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says Monday's vote triggers a long-standing congressional restriction on funding to UN bodies that recognize Palestine as a state before an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is reached. [...]
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called UNESCO's acceptance of a Palestinian state "anti-Israel and anti-peace."
"This is only the beginning", said Ros-Lehtinen. "The Palestinians will now seek full membership at other UN bodies."
J Street urged the U.S. not to cut funding, saying disengagement from UNESCO would weaken the country's international standing. "In addition to undermining our own national interests, it would also deprive Israel of its most vocal and powerful advocate in a key UN organ," said Dylan Williams, J Street’s Director of Government Affairs.
The U.S. Congress is also currently considering new legislation that would impose additional restrictions on American funding of the United Nations, threaten cutting aid to the Palestinian Authority, and slashing military assistance to key foreign countries in retaliation to their support for the Palestinian bid for full UN membership.[...]
Mod note: Discussion on the ramifications/repercussions/retaliations on UNESCO or Palestine belong in Nico's Bus (where a thread for that already exists). Discussion on other aspects, such as whether more international bodies will follow and what this means for Palestine's efforts to regain their status as an international state, is acceptable here.
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