US to Council Members: Abstain on Palestine Bid

 The United States is pushing hard to avoid a showdown next Friday in New York, where the Security Council is scheduled to announce a decision on Palestine’s application for full UN membership.

Although the United States has repeatedly said it would block any attempt to pass the resolution, the Obama administration wants to avoid using its veto and is asking other Council members to abstain from voting. A US veto of the Palestinian bid would be a significant blow to US standing in the Arab world.

Obama reportedly sent Bosnia Herzegovina leaders a letter this week asking them not to support the Palestinian request.

Palestinian leaders would need at least 9 votes in favor of the resolution from the Council’s 15 members to force a US veto. China, Russia, Lebanon, Brazil, India and South Africa have all said they would support Palestinian membership.

A UN diplomat has told the BBC that France, Colombia and the United Kingdom have already let the Security Council know they would abstain from voting, while Germany has indicated it would not support the Palestinian request, without saying if it would abstain or vote no.

The US would need two of the remaining four members; Bosnia,Portugal, Nigeria and Gabon, to abstain or vote no in order to avoid having to use its veto.

On Monday UN member states overwhelmingly voted to accept Palestine into UNESCO, forcing the US to cut off all of its funding to the organization. Current American law calls for the defunding of any UN organization that  accepts Palestine in its membership.

 Israel has responded to Palestine ascension to UNESCO by announcing it would speed up settlement construction in the West Bank and Jerusalem and stop payment of of the tax revenue it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinian  envoy at the United Nations Riyad Mansour condemned Israel’s response and said he would ask the Security Council to intervene. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and officials at the US state department have both said they are concerned by Israel’s decisions.

The Obama administration used its first and so far only veto at the Security Council in February, when it was the lone Council member to oppose a resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction.

UNESCO Recognizes Palestine, Loses US Funding

Palestine today gained membership in UNESCO, a move that will likely bolster the Palestinian Authority’s bid for full membership in the United Nations but also put an end to American funding of the organization. 

Current American law calls for the defunding of any UN entity that grants Palestinians membership. 

Members of the agency, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, voted to admit Palestine despite attempts by the Obama administration to convince the international community to oppose it. The vote was 107 members in favor, 14 against and 52 abstentions

 “We sincerely regret that the strenuous and well-intentioned efforts of many delegations to avoid this result fell short” David Killion US Ambassador to UNESCO said after the vote.

State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters today the US would withhold 60 million dollars from UNESCO in 2011.

Palestinian admission to UNESCO comes weeks after the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a bill to drastically change the way the US funds the United Nations and its agencies. 

Committee Chairman and bill sponsor Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), one of Israel’s strongest supporters in Congress, has repeatedly called on President Obama to counter Palestinian efforts at the United Nations by withholding funding. 

“Today’s reckless action by UNESCO is anti-Israel and anti-peace. It rewards the Palestinian leadership’s dangerous scheme to bypass negotiations with Israel and seek recognition of a self-declared ‘Palestinian state,’ and takes us further from peace in the Middle East.This is only the beginning. The Palestinians will now seek full membership in other UN bodies.” Ros Lehtinen said in a statement released earlier today.

“Existing U.S. law mandates that we cut off funding to any UN body that approves such a request. The Administration must stop trying to find ways not to fully implement this law, and instead cut off funding to UNESCO immediately. And Congress must pass pending UN reform legislation to cut off funding to any UN entity that grants any upgraded status to ‘Palestine.’ “ 

 Palestine’s request for full membership at the United Nations was presented to Secretary General Ban Ki Moon during the UN General Assembly in September and is in the process of being reviewed by a special UN Security Council committee. The committee is expected to report back to Council members on November 11th.