(Bloomberg) Flavia Krause-Jackson and David Lerman - Acceptance into UNESCO hasn't brought the Palestinians any closer to full membership in the UN itself. If anything, the victory has come at a price. Swing votes the Palestinians need to bolster their support on the Security Council for full UN membership have evaporated. The Palestinian admission to UNESCO "is more than anything a complication to the goal they set for themselves: a two-state solution," said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. The number of abstentions - 52 - was more than expected, said Hussein Ibish of the American Task Force on Palestine. They included three critical Security Council members - Portugal, Colombia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. "This will further strain relations between the U.S. and the Palestinians and harden positions," said Robert Danin of the Council on Foreign Relations. "The vote to grant Palestinian membership in UNESCO is no substitute for direct negotiations, but it is deeply damaging for UNESCO," said U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice.
2011-11-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive