CAIRO: In an ongoing effort to achieve state recognition, Palestinians applied for full state membership at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Wednesday. The move follows Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas' appeal to the UN Security Council for a vote on Palestinian statehood. The Security Council vote will not be up for a couple of weeks, but Abbas is not wasting time. Moving from one institution of the UN body to another, he has officially filed an application for membership in UNESCO. Palestine has held observer status in UNESCO since 1974. UNESCO's board overwhelmingly voted to send the vote on Palestinian membership to the body's 193 members for further consideration. Palestine needs two thirds of UNECSO's 193 members to vote in their favor at the organization's upcoming General Conference, which runs from October 25 to November 10. Achieving full member status in UNESCO will not change any of Palestine's ongoing issues, but it could allow Palestinians to stand stronger in future negotiations. Even if the US vetoes the upcoming Security Council vote, the Palestinian case would stand strong in an anticipated General Assembly vote. Also, UNESCO membership might enable Palestinians to obtain protection for their world heritage sights, allowing them to reclaim important landmarks in their territories. Land conflict is still one of the most important issues in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. In 2010, Netanyahu proclaimed that two Jewish holy sites in the Palestinian West Bank, Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque and Bethlehem's Rachel's Tomb, were to become Israeli national monuments. This led to clashes in Hebron, as both Palestinians and the international community saw the step as a provocation. Various sites in the Palestinian territories are of great importance to Christians, Jews and Muslims alike. Palestine plans to submit Jesus Christ's supposed birthplace in Bethlehem, the ancient walled city of Jericho, and the Mosque of Ibrahim, for UNESCO heritage status. Palestinian leaders have reported they are under fierce pressure from Washington to withdraw their membership appeals. In Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki, described the diplomatic pressure he was exposed to as “enormous and unreasonable.” The new moves for recognition have been made just as the “quartet” of Russia, the US, the UN and the European Union, are meeting in Paris to discuss new peace talk efforts. France expressed fears that this step might make the chance of revived peace talks even more distant. The persistence of the Palestinians to achieve recognition at the UN has angered many Western powers that supported continued peace talks. However, as Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu approved the construction of new settlements in East Jerusalem last week, these peace talks seem far off. Israel's ambassador to UNESCO, Nimrod Barkan, is one out of the many strong opponents to the Palestinian bid. “The bid is inappropriate and irrelevant to the UNESCO organization,” he told the Associated Press. He asked the member-states to leave the vote up to the Security Council. “The tragedy is that this hampers UNESCO from doing its real job. A relatively small minority is hijacking the organization for other purposes,” he said. The Palestinians are also seeking a position in the World Trade Organization (WTO), and have gained partnership status this week in the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights body. BM
