Palestine admitted to UNESCO as full member

PARIS — Palestine became a full member of UNESCO on Monday, in a highly divisive breakthrough that could cost the agency a fifth of its budget and that the U.S. and other opponents say could harm renewed Mideast peace efforts.

Lawmakers in the United States, which provides about 22 percent of UNESCO's funding, had threatened to halt some $80 million in annual funding if Palestinian membership was approved. It wasn't clear in the immediate aftermath of Monday's vote whether the threat would become reality.

White House spokesman Jay Carney called UNESCO's decision "premature" and said it undermines the international community's goal of a comprehensive Middle East peace plan. He called it a distraction from the goal of restarting direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Monday's vote is a grand symbolic victory for the Palestinians, but it alone won't make Palestine into a state. The issue of borders of an eventual Palestinian state, security troubles and other disputes that have thwarted Middle East peace for decades remain unresolved.

Huge cheers went up in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization after delegates approved the membership in a vote of 107-14 with 52 abstentions. Eighty-one votes were needed for approval in a hall with 173 UNESCO member delegations present.

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• palestine
• israel
• unesco+palestina+izrael+united
• states+UN+

[lav764321]

i don't understand usa, this was democratic decision made by unesco by majority of votes. isn't that democracy?

[first00life]

THIS IS WHAT WE CALL '' DEMOCRACY ''

[watchnsw]

@lav764321 Well you should. When Palestinians blow themselves up in populated places this is terrorism. As soon as they clear their act up, America could do waterer it would like with democracy, but until then, amercia doesn't have to support a nation run by terrorists

[waelag100]

thumbs up 4 ps

[davidthmovies]

@lav764321 Don't think the USA know a lot about democracy. A country where there's effectively only two parties can hardly be called democratic.

Also, no democratic country would consider to veto democratic decisions, like in the palestinian statehood bid. France and Great Britain won't use their veto, China and Russia certainly won't, but not because they're democratic :-)

what will the USA do?