Israel-Palestine Feature: Why a UNESCO Vote Is Key To Palestinian Statehood

UPDATE 1745 GMT: State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland has told journalists, "We were to have made a $60 million payment to UNESCO in November and we will not be making that payment."

UPDATE 1245 GMT: The New York Times has produced an overview --- a slanted overview, in my opinion, sniping at UNESCO while putting the unsupported assertion that "the Obama administration and Unesco had tried to avert the approval" of Palestine's bid. This paragraph, however, is notable:

Legislation dating back more than 15 years mandates a complete cutoff of American financing to any United Nations agency that accepts the Palestinians as a full member. Unesco — the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — depends on the United States for 22 percent of its budget, about $70 million a year.

Lara Friedman has more on the US legislation mandating withdrawal of funding.

UPDATE 1230 GMT: Palestine has been accepted by UNESCO by a vote of 107-14, with the US objecting. There were 52 abstentions.

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I was tipped off to this story three weeks ago by a Danish diplomat, who underscored the importance of the UNESCO vote.

What CNN fails to recognise and/or mention is that, if one United Nations body recognises a state, then all UN agencies must follow. That in effect is a recognition of Palestine's bid for statehood, even though the UN as a whole has not issued its response to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' formal bid last month.

And that is why the US opposition goes far beyond the lawmakers mentioned by CNN --- the American delegation at the UN and the State Department have been besieging foreign embassies and diplomats with messages insisting that UNESCO must not proceed with recognition:

The general conference for UNESCO gets underway in Paris Monday when the U.N. agency is expected to vote whether or not to accept a Palestinian bid for full membership.

In September, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas made a bid for the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state. And UNESCO is the first agency that the Palestinians have sought to join.

At the conference Monday, the agency's 193 members will vote -- with a two-thirds majority approval required for the Palestinians to be considered a member.

Since Palestinian leaders made the request for membership to UNESCO earlier this month, U.S. lawmakers have urged the agency to reject it.

UNESCO promotes peace through educational, scientific and cultural collaboration among states, and 40% of its funding comes from the United States.

"Any recognition of Palestine as a Member State would not only jeopardize the hope for a resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, but would endanger the United States' contribution to UNESCO," said an October 13 letter signed by members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, which appropriates UNESCO's U.S. funding.

Kay Granger (R-Texas), who chairs the subcommittee, said she will "advocate for all funding to be cut off."

"This is consistent with current law and I will consider additional actions as needed," she said this month. "There are consequences for short-cutting the process, not only for the Palestinians, but for our longstanding relationship with the United Nations."

She was referring to a provision of "22 USC 287e" which states: "No funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or any other Act shall be available for the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof which accords the Palestine Liberation Organization the same standing as member states."

Abbas' bid for statehood to the United Nations is also opposed by Israel, which says it is premature without direct talks that address its longstanding security concerns.