The Obama administration is cutting off funding for UNESCO, the United Nation’s cultural agency because it approved a Palestinian bid for full membership, AP reports.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says Monday’s vote triggers a long-standing U.S. congressional restriction on funding to U.N. bodies that recognize Palestine as a state before an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is reached.
The vote at UNESCO’s General Conference in Paris, France, was carried by 107 votes in favour of admission and 14 votes against, with 52 abstentions. Palestine’s entry will bring the number of UNESCO’s Member States to 195.
Nuland says the decision was “regrettable, premature and undermines our shared goal to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace” between Israelis and Palestinians.
She says the U.S. would refrain from making a $60 million payment it planned to make in November.
The Palestinians want full membership in the U.N., but Israel opposes the bid. The U.S. says it would veto a vote in the Security Council.
Admission to UNESCO for states that are not members of the United Nations requires a recommendation by the Organization’s Executive Board and a two thirds majority vote in favour by the General Conference of Member States present and voting (abstentions are not considered as votes).
VIDEO: Statement by UNESCO Director-General
(Click CC icon for English subtitles)
I understand french.. The video is so irritating I couldnt listen to it.. When will these people wake up?
this is a video on cnn
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/10/31/flower-israel-battle-for-babies.cnn
Crazy just crazy
why dont we march out to the streets to once and for all get rid of those filthy sick disgusting sonei yisroel? enough is enough! its unbearable, they hate us and want to kill us and annihilate the entire jewish people just like hitler! they are not against israel or zionist, they are against the JEWS! lets go to the streets and scream and cry that this outrageous anti israeli program called unicef MUST be erased from the face of this earth!
Israel do not worry!
G-d is behind you!