UNESCO gives Palestinians full membership
The United Nations' cultural agency decided today 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 September 23.
The United States, Canada and Germany voted against Palestinian membership. Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa and France voted in favor. Britain abstained.
The United States has said it would veto full UN membership for the Palestinians and it and Israel are also leading opponents of the Palestinian bid for membership of UNESCO and other UN bodies.
Admission is seen by the Palestinians as a moral victory in their bid for full UN membership but could be costly for UNESCO.Under US law, the admission of Palestine as a full UNESCO member would trigger a cutoff in US funding which accounts for 22 percent of the agency's funding.
Washington opposes the Palestinian bid for a full UN seat on the grounds it is unhelpful to efforts to revive peace talks with Israel, the last round of which broke down a year ago.
Israel has said the Palestinian bid would amount to politicization of the agency that would undermine its ability to carry out its mandate.
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