Palestine has become a full-fledged member of UNESCO. Most of the participants in the UNESCO General Assembly in Paris voted for accepting Palestine into their ranks. 14 states, including the US and Israel, voted against the initiative.
This event, which took place on Monday, can be called a rehearsal of what will happen at the UN General Assembly if the agenda includes the issue of admitting Palestine into this world community. This will rather be a moral victory for the Palestinians. Speaking in Moscow, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Faed Mustafa stressed that the Palestinians do not consider entering UNESCO and applying for UN membership an alternative to peace talks with Israel. Russia has repeatedly mentioned this and for this reason voted for admitting Palestine to UNESCO. The Russian delegate, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov declared that Russia sees no problem in recognizing Palestine as a state and that Palestine’s application for UNESCO membership should be discussed without politicization and an artificial whipping-up of tension.
“We observe with gratification that the representatives of Palestine act on the premise that their application to the UN and other international organizations is not an alternative to reaching a peace agreement with Israel. This is important because only successful talks can guarantee the establishment of a territorially integrate Palestinian state which will live in safety side by side with Israel and other countries of the region,” Gennady Gatilov said.
Before the discussion of Palestine’s application for UNESCO membership the US and Israel tried to blackmail other UNESCO member-states. Washington threatened with stopping the financing of UNESCO, and this is 22% of the organization’s budget. However, this did not affect the opinion of 107 countries that voted for accepting Palestine. After the results of voting were announced the US Department of State declared an end to the US financial support of UNESCO. Israel is planning to go even farther. According to the local media, the Israeli cabinet of ministers is going to deprive members of the Palestinian administration of the VIP status which facilitates their passing through Israeli security check-points. Another possible sanction is stopping the transfer of taxes collected by Israel for Palestine and the expansion of housing construction on the Palestinian territories.
The US and Israel are convinced that any sign of recognizing Palestinian sovereignty has a negative impact on the success of the talks. However, it should be noted that Washington and Tel-Aviv keep silent about the fact that the talks have been frozen for over a year. This was caused by Israel’s non-compliance in the issue of housing construction on the occupied territories and refusal to return to pre-1967 borders. This was the reason for the Palestinians’ decision to go to the international community with the request to be admitted to the UN. At the same time the Palestinian leadership has no illusions that this might really change the situation in the region, says Professor Georgi Mirsky, an expert in Oriental studies.
“It is wrong to think that Palestine has scored by its policy and now will easily get what it wants. Today’s success is important for the Palestinian people who do not understand much about politics and believe that this is another step on the way of establishing a normal state. Even if Palestine is admitted to the UN as an observer state, nothing will change in the region and no Israeli soldier will leave the occupied territories, including the border on Jordan along the Jordan River.
Undoubtedly, Palestine’s attempts to get into international organizations should run parallel to the talks. The Palestinians and their wishes should be supported and not thrown back by threats and blackmail, as Washington does out of habit.
This event, which took place on Monday, can be called a rehearsal of what will happen at the UN General Assembly if the agenda includes the issue of admitting Palestine into this world community. This will rather be a moral victory for the Palestinians. Speaking in Moscow, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Faed Mustafa stressed that the Palestinians do not consider entering UNESCO and applying for UN membership an alternative to peace talks with Israel. Russia has repeatedly mentioned this and for this reason voted for admitting Palestine to UNESCO. The Russian delegate, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov declared that Russia sees no problem in recognizing Palestine as a state and that Palestine’s application for UNESCO membership should be discussed without politicization and an artificial whipping-up of tension.
“We observe with gratification that the representatives of Palestine act on the premise that their application to the UN and other international organizations is not an alternative to reaching a peace agreement with Israel. This is important because only successful talks can guarantee the establishment of a territorially integrate Palestinian state which will live in safety side by side with Israel and other countries of the region,” Gennady Gatilov said.
Before the discussion of Palestine’s application for UNESCO membership the US and Israel tried to blackmail other UNESCO member-states. Washington threatened with stopping the financing of UNESCO, and this is 22% of the organization’s budget. However, this did not affect the opinion of 107 countries that voted for accepting Palestine. After the results of voting were announced the US Department of State declared an end to the US financial support of UNESCO. Israel is planning to go even farther. According to the local media, the Israeli cabinet of ministers is going to deprive members of the Palestinian administration of the VIP status which facilitates their passing through Israeli security check-points. Another possible sanction is stopping the transfer of taxes collected by Israel for Palestine and the expansion of housing construction on the Palestinian territories.
The US and Israel are convinced that any sign of recognizing Palestinian sovereignty has a negative impact on the success of the talks. However, it should be noted that Washington and Tel-Aviv keep silent about the fact that the talks have been frozen for over a year. This was caused by Israel’s non-compliance in the issue of housing construction on the occupied territories and refusal to return to pre-1967 borders. This was the reason for the Palestinians’ decision to go to the international community with the request to be admitted to the UN. At the same time the Palestinian leadership has no illusions that this might really change the situation in the region, says Professor Georgi Mirsky, an expert in Oriental studies.
“It is wrong to think that Palestine has scored by its policy and now will easily get what it wants. Today’s success is important for the Palestinian people who do not understand much about politics and believe that this is another step on the way of establishing a normal state. Even if Palestine is admitted to the UN as an observer state, nothing will change in the region and no Israeli soldier will leave the occupied territories, including the border on Jordan along the Jordan River.
Undoubtedly, Palestine’s attempts to get into international organizations should run parallel to the talks. The Palestinians and their wishes should be supported and not thrown back by threats and blackmail, as Washington does out of habit.
Source: The Voice of Russia
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