UNESCO

The World Monuments Fund rejected a petition to have Lifta, a destroyed and ethnically cleansed Palestinian village, officially included in their protected heritage site list.

Amongst the fallout of Palestine’s admission as a member state, Israel’s warning that it “will now reconsider its cooperation with UNESCO” is the biggest irony.

The administration of US President Barack Obama announced Monday that it would immediately cut US funding for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, just hours after UNESCO’s governing board voted overwhelmingly to grant Palestine full membership.

The US Congress has voted to freeze aid to the Palestinian Authority worth $200 million. The common theme of the freeze is the disruption of activities that might reinforce the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) drive for statehood.

Victor Kattan argues that UN membership for a State of Palestine would be a strategic asset to the Palestinian struggle for self-determination, although there are risks involved.