For letting in Palestine, US stops $60m annual fund to UNESCO

Al Jazeera

PARIS, Nov 1: The US government has cut off tens of millions of dollars in annual funding to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) after it voted to admit Palestine as a full member. Victoria Nuland, the US state department spokeswoman, said payments to the Paris-based organisation would be stopped immediately. She said Washington would refrain from making a $60m payment it planned to deliver in November. "Today's vote by the member states of UNESCO to admit Palestine as a member is regrettable, premature, and undermines our shared goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East,'' Nuland said.The Palestinian bid received 107 "yes" votes during a UNESCO meeting in the French capital, with 14 countries voting against and 52 abstaining, enough to satisfy a two-thirds majority of those countries present and voting. The decision grants full membership to Palestine, which has had observer status since 1974; it allows the Palestinians to register certain sites, like the Church of the Nativity, in UNESCO's World Heritage register. Riad al-Malki, the Palestinian foreign minister, said the vote would help to "preserve cultural heritage in Palestine." UNESCO membership marks a small victory for the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), which filed a bid last month for full membership at the UN. UNESCO, like many UN agencies, is a part of the world body but has separate membership procedures and can make its own decisions about which countries belong. The disconnect between memberships is rare but not unprecedented. Two tiny Pacific island nations - the Cook Islands and Niue - are members of UNESCO but not the UN, while Liechtenstein belongs to the larger world body but not the cultural agency. The PLO's bid for full membership has been stalled for weeks at the UN Security Council, and will likely face a US veto when it comes to a vote. Symbolic weight The "yes" vote at UNESCO will add at least symbolic weight to the PLO's argument that the UN should recognise a Palestinian state. "It's good news. It's another step in the right direction," said Husam Zomlot, a PLO member and former ambassador. "We're marching towards full status in the international system. UNESCO is a very important organisation." Nimrod Barkan, the Israeli representative to UNESCO, called the vote "tragic for the idea of UNESCO". Israel voted against the measure, as did the US, Canada and several European countries, including Germany. The UK abstained, while France voted in favour. Ahmed Yousef, a Hamas official and the deputy foreign minister in Gaza, called it a "great achievement" and said the vote "shows that Israel and America are not dictating politics to the world anymore". Mouin Rabbani, an analyst at the Institute for Palestinian Studies in Amman, said the vote would make it harder for those countries to successfully oppose Palestinian efforts for recognition.