After UNESCO, Will Congress Defund Nuclear Non-Proliferation Next?
Patricia Morris | Nov 08, 2011 |
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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton greets UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova at UNESCO HQ in Paris. Photo courtesy of state.gov
After the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voted on October 31 to admit Palestine as a full member-state to the organization, the U.S. defunded UNESCO in accordance with a U.S. law from 1990.
The law restricts funding to any United Nations organization that accepts Palestine as a full member before an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. With the Palestinian Authority (PA) actively seeking membership in U.N. organizations, the UNESCO rebuff could mark a U.S. trend in defunding other U.N. organizations. Blanket application of the law is of particular concern because it could lead the U.S. to defund organizations that directly contribute to U.S. and global security, especially the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
After failing to secure an expedient vote in the U.N. Security Council on Palestinian statehood, the PA applied for membership at UNESCO. Ibrahim Khraishi, a Palestinian official at the U.N. in Geneva, told the Associated Press, “[w]e are working on [membership], one by one" to gain greater recognition for an internationally recognized Palestinian state at the U.N.
White House spokesperson Jay Carney said of the move: "Today's vote at UNESCO to admit the Palestinian Authority is premature and undermines the international community's shared goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”
The next international organizations to vote on whether to admit Palestine as a full member could be the World Health Organization and IAEA.
