Palestinian acceptance in UNESCO signals new strategy for struggle

Tuesday, 01 November 2011 15:07
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What does the admission of Palestine to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) mean, if anything, for the Palestinian struggle? 

Just over a month after the Palestinian Authority submitted its application for statehood to the United Nations' Security Council, the PA gained its first full membership in an UN agency--the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 107 countries voted in favor of admitting Palestine to UNESCO, 14 against, and 52 abstained.

Al Aqsa is expected to become a Palestinian UNESCO site
The Al Aqsa Mosque is one of the landmarks the Palestinians are likely to claim as a World Heritage site with its new UNESCO membership.

“This is a historic moment that gives back to the Palestinians some of their rights”, Palestinian Foreign Minister Ryad Al Malki remarked after the vote.

It is widely believed that the PA will declare notable spots such as  the Al Aqsa and Ibrahim mosques, the Nativity Church, and Nablus's Old City as World Heritage sites.

Unlike the Security Council, the Israeli government couldn't rely on a US veto in UNESCO. United States, Israel, Germany and Canada were among those who voted against Palestine's admission to UNESCO.

Before the vote, the US threatened to withdraw all its funding from UNESCO. The US contributes 70 million dollars per year--approximately 22 percent of the agency's budget.

Former US senator and current head of the United Nations Foundation, Timothy Wirth, has remarked that the Palestinian bid in UNESCO would translate in a “loss of US influence in major international negotiations”. Wirth was concerned not only about the negotiations inside UNESCO, but also about the consequences that the US government could face if the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas decides to apply for full membership in other UN agencies, like the International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Health Organization, the World Bank Group and the Food and Agriculture Organization. According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, the Palestinian Authority is already analyzing and preparing requests for membership in 16 more UN agencies.

Two laws from the beginning of the nineties prohibit the US government from funding any UN agency that accepts Palestine as a full member before a peace accord is signed between the Palestinian Authority and the Israelis. In the eve of an electoral year and without a majority in the House of Representatives, US President Barack Obama doesn’t seem capable or willing to force an amendment in order to avoid future ruptures inside the UN infrastructure.

While the US struggles with its own domestic politics, the Israeli cabinet is considering its next step in the face of what some consider a Palestinian diplomatic breakthrough. There are several options on the table: cutting Israeli financing to and projects with UNESCO, leaving the agency altogether, or attempting to punish the PA. But, no matter what the Israelis decide to do, the UNESCO vote--and the PA's plans to repeat the move in other UN agencies--suggests that the Palestinian issue will stay on the international agenda.