Source: The Guardian
Harriet Sherwood
Harriet Sherwood
The United States has cut off funds to Unesco as a punitive action
after the Palestinian Authority was accepted into the UN agency as a
full member in defiance of American, Israeli and European pressure.
The overwhelming backing for the Palestinians' bid to join the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation was a huge boost for
their campaign for international recognition of an independent state,
and a blow to Israel and the US, who had opposed the move.
Members
voted by 107 votes to 14 to accept Palestine as a full member state to
loud cheers from delegates in Paris. Fifty-two countries, including the
UK, abstained.
Within hours, the US announced it would withhold
its huge contribution to Unesco's budget as a result of the vote. State
department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the US had no choice due to a
21-year-old law prohibiting the payment of funds to any UN body
accepting the Palestinians as full members.
A $60m (£38m) transfer
that was due later this month would be halted in a move that will have
serious consequences for Unesco activities. The US contributes 22% of
the agency's annual budget.
