Monday, October 31, 2011

US cuts off UNESCO funding after Palestinian vote

The United States said today 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 longstanding US law, saying Washington would not make a planned $60 million transfer that was due in November.

Earlier some US lawmakers had demanded an immediate cutoff of US. Funds.The Obama administration said the UNESCO vote was a distraction from the quest for Middle East peace.

 

"Today's vote distracts us from our shared goal of direct negotiations that result in a secure Israel and an independent Palestine living side by side in peace and security," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

The White House, in its initial response to the vote, did not address the question of whether US funding for UNESCO would continue.

But Republicans in Congress said Washington had no choice under laws passed in the 1990s, and must now stop contributions to UNESCO. An important congressional Democrat, Representative Nita Lowey of New York, warned the UN cultural agency's action would have "serious consequences."

The United States provides 22 percent of the agency's funding.

"Existing US law mandates that we cut off funding to any UN body that approves such a request. The administration must stop trying to find ways not to fully implement this law, and instead cut off funding to UNESCO immediately," said Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Republican chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"I expect the administration to enforce existing law and stop contributions to UNESCO and any other UN agency that enables the Palestinians to short-cut the peace process," said Representative Kay Granger, the Republican chairwoman of the House committee in charge of foreign aid.

The United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organization decided today to give the Palestinians full membership, 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 joined as a full member since President Mahmoud Abbas applied for full membership of the United Nations on Sept. 23.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said the vote to grant Palestinians full membership was "deeply damaging" to the UN cultural agency and no substitute for direct peace talks with Israel.

The American Jewish group J Street called on Congress to amend US law to preserve American contributions to UNESCO, saying without US support, the group's work in development and expanding educational opportunities around the globe would be at risk.

"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," said Dylan Williams, the organization's director of government affairs.