Today: Apparently its against US law to provide funds for any UN organisation that recognises Palestine as a member state. In which case, should the US remain a member of the UN if Palestine gets statehood? What do you think?
It looks pretty cut and dry. If UNESCO accepts Palestine then the US will have to leave UNESCO. Unless of course, the US ignores its own laws with hand waving arguments (no precedent here...Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!) BTW. SAM what does the intials in your username stand for?
Yes, but I'm unable to find out if the legislation is limited to the PLO or refers to Palestinians It seems then that Palestinians can keep getting membership in the UN agencies getting the US kicked out of each and every one of them, with the US finally out of the UN! OMG no more US veto! Is that possible!!!! :yay::thankyou: Lol Simulated Articulate Machine. What else?
sam can you give me the lowdown on abstentions? for instance,in un resolutions.....Adopted by 121 votes to 1, with 4 abstentions what can be inferred?
Not sure, without a specific example. I generally consider abstentions to denote that representatives are unwilling or unable to take a stance for some reason, either political or financial [ie funding issues with particular lobbies] What I'm wondering is, if the US is "officially" on board with the two state solution, how can they have legislation banning funding of UN recognition of a Palestinian state since the 90s???
Nope We might quit them. But then the U.S. only recently rejoined UNESCO, after a more than two-decade-long U.S. absence. The United States rejoined the organization under G. W. Bush after the Sept. 11 attacks and since then about one-fifth of UNESCO's budget has come from the U.S. So who would be missing whom is the question? Oh, and since the US pays its share at the end of the year, if they accept Palestine then that would mean no payment for 2011, and a $70 million reduction in the budget.
Just another sad example where doing what's right for America is superseded by doing Israel's bidding. :shrug:
As if UNESCO does anything meaningful to stop Piracy. http://www.unesco.org/en/cultural-diversity/anti-piracy/
Well, I was orginally referring to America as in the American people...but as to which loses more money for US politicans I would go with the Congressional lobby funding (just a guess).
The Pals are not going to get statehood this way. So much depends on Israel that a UN declaration wouldn't solve much.
Every option seems to be a waste of time for the palestinaians it seems spidey. I guesss as mentioned a one state solution is the only way through!!
Money is no problem - someone else will pay the difference. What this is, is a fantastic historic moment with the UN members showing big balls of steel after the way the US has been bullying people in the backroom and those 52 abstentions know it. What a historic moment for the people who believe in self determination!!! Good show UNESCO. The US is just making itself more and more irrelevant. They can use the money to improve the education of the American people. They need it
No they won't. Why do you think we were paying 20% Well the good news is we have a LONG LONG way to go to be anyway near as irrelevant as you. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/27/us-india-women-exploitation-idUSTRE79Q1WX20111027
I was referring to irrelevance in UNESCO. Members who don't pay their dues lose the right to vote. Video of some votes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=B-B61_g8QkQ Full vote tally: There were 14 “no” votes, 52 abstentions and 107 “yes” votes (there were also 21 Member States absent): No: Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sweden, United States of America, Vanuatu. Abstentions: Albania, Andorra, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cook Islands, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Fiji, Georgia, Haiti, Hungary, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kiribati, Latvia, Liberia, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Switzerland, Thailand, Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Zambia. Yes: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Chad, Chile, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, Sant Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zimbabwe. Absent: Antigua and Barbuda, Central African Republic, Comoros, Dominica, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Madagascar, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Confederated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, Niue, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan. http://humanprovince.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/unesco-palestine/