UNESCO grants Palestinians full membership

The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (unesco) accepted the Palestinians as a full member state on Monday, the first UN affiliate body to do so. Two thirds of the members of the UN cultural and scientific agency voted in favor of Palestinian membership—107 members in favor, 14 against, and 52 abstentions. unesco has a history of strong bias against Israel.

The Palestinians hope to build on this victory by seeking membership of other UN agencies. “We have gotten a precedent that might open the road for us to join other agencies,” said Ibrahim Khraishi, the Palestinian envoy to the UN in Geneva.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas requested full membership in the UN on September 23, and a Security Council vote is tentatively scheduled for November 11.

Such moves serve to further isolate Israel, though the United States has promised to use its veto power in the Security Council and has cut funding to unesco.

“Seeking—and now gaining—admittance to various UN agencies is the first step in a wider diplomatic campaign by the PA to secure a UN Security Council vote on Palestinian statehood,” writes the Eurasia Review. “In fact, it appears to be a deliberate tactic to isolate those countries opposed to the statehood bid—chiefly, the U.S. and Israel” (November 3).

The unesco acceptance is a great diplomatic victory for the Palestinians.

“Admission to unesco represents a significant propaganda victory for the PA,” writes the Eurasia Review. “The overwhelming support the PA received for full membership admission to unesco will make it more difficult for countries to oppose Palestinian attempts to secure statehood recognition at the UN. Moreover, in future the PA could present any opposition to unesco recognition as an attempt to deny the Palestinian claim to a distinct and legitimate culture.”

The Eurasia Review comments further on the implications:

As a unesco member, the Palestinians can also now apply for World Heritage classification for their cultural sites in the [Palestinian] territories to legitimate and promote their cultural rights, which would be protected by the UN, and could also receive funding from unesco for preservation and restoration projects. These sites could include contested landmarks which Israel has officially declared part of its national heritage, such as Temple Mount in Jerusalem (where the Al-Aqsa mosque also stands), Rachel’s Tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs, both of which are in the West Bank. If Israel were to damage any unesco heritage site in a military campaign, it would be in violation of international law and unesco member states would be obliged to take action.

These unilateral moves by the Palestinians are largely symbolic but may have far-reaching implications on the ground by triggering further violence. Watch for Jerusalem to increasingly become a flash point for tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.