WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States said yesterday it had stopped funding UNESCO, the UN cultural agency, following its vote to grant the Palestinians full membership.
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters the United States had no choice but to halt funding because of US laws passed in the 1990s, saying Washington would not make a planned $60 million transfer that was due this month.
“The United States … remains strongly committed to robust, multilateral engagement across the UN system. However, Palestinian membership as a state in UNESCO triggers long-standing legislative restrictions which will compel the United States to refrain from making contributions to UNESCO,” Nuland said.
Nuland also said the vote yesterday by the member states of UNESCO to admit the Palestinians as a member was “regrettable, premature and undermines our shared goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”
The United States provides 22 per cent of the funding of the United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
That agency decided yesterday to give the Palestinians full membership, a vote that will boost their bid at the United Nations for recognition as a state.
UNESCO is the first UN agency the Palestinians have joined as a full member since President Mahmoud Abbas applied for full membership of the United Nations on Sept 23. Among UNESCO’s tasks are designating World Heritage sites, promoting education around the world, and managing a tsunami early-warning system in the Pacific.
The United States and its ally Israel oppose the Palestinian diplomatic foray in the UN system, describing it as an attempt to bypass the two-decade old peace process.
Washington says only a resumption of peace talks ending in a treaty with Israel can bring about the Palestinian goal of statehood.
Earlier yesterday, Republican US lawmakers demanded the funding cutoff, and the White House as well as other officials across the US political spectrum criticized UNESCO’s action.
Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said the UNESCO move was “no substitute for negotiations, but it is deeply damaging to UNESCO.”
Palestinian officials have said they intend to apply for full membership of as many UN agencies as possible. This clearly worries State Department officials who fear a loss of US influence if more funding cutoffs are triggered by law.
The 1990s law prohibits US funding to any UN organization that grants full membership to any group that does not have “internationally recognized attributes” of statehood.
The language was intended to pre-emptively block normalization of Palestinian relations and activities in the international community, said Lara Friedman, policy director at Americans for Peace Now, an American-Jewish pro-peace group.
The law could also prohibit American funding for any other UN organization that grants Palestinians full membership status, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency, which among other things monitors Iran’s nuclear program.
Esther Brimmer, the assistant secretary of state for international organizations, met representatives of major US companies yesterday to address concerns over a potential Palestinian bid to join the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Geneva-based WIPO is the UN organization charged with protecting copyright, covering everything from song credits to patents for new drugs and high-tech innovations.
Another American Jewish group, J Street, urged Congress to amend the law to preserve US funding to UNESCO and others.
“If Congress does not act, we could soon find ourselves without a voice at UN-affiliated agencies of vital importance to American jobs, safety and security,” J Street’s Dylan Williams said.
Meanwhile, a huge cheer erupted in UNESCO’s General Assembly after the vote, which marks a symbolic victory for Palestinians in the complex diplomacy that surrounds their collective status and relations with foreign powers.
“Today’s victory at UNESCO is the beginning of a road that is difficult, but will lead to the freedom of our land and people from occupation,” Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said. “Palestine has the right to a place on the map.”
Israel called the vote a “tragedy” and the decision damaged relations between UNESCO.
UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova, who previously pleaded for Washington not to withdraw support, told delegates funding may be jeopardised. “I believe it is the responsibility of all of us to make sure that UNESCO does not suffer unduly… We need each and every member of this organisation to be fully engaged,” she added.
The Palestinians got backing from two thirds of UNESCO’s members to become its 195th member. Of 173 countries that voted from a possible 185, 107 voted in favour, 14 voted against, 52 abstained and 12 were absent. Abstentions did not count toward the final tally.
“This vote is not directed against anyone, but represents support for freedom and justice,” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement to the official news agency WAFA.
