UNESCO votes on Palestinian membership today

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/31/uk-palestinians-unesco-idUKTRE79U1VG20111031

(Reuters) - The United Nations' cultural agency will decide later on Monday whether to give the Palestinians full membership of the body, a vote that could boost their bid for recognition as a state at the United Nations.

UNESCO is the first U.N. agency the Palestinians have sought to join as a full member since President Mahmoud Abbas applied for full membership of the United Nations on September 23.

Washington has vowed to veto full U.N. membership for the Palestinians in the U.N. Security Council and could cut funding to UNESCO if it votes to make them full members.

"We believe this is counterproductive... The only path for the Palestinians is through direction negotiations," US Undersecretary of Education Martha Kanter told delegates ahead of the vote at UNESCO's General Conference.

Vote the way we want....OR ELSE

I disagree its counterproductive tho since it would actually bring the two sides closer to equality in negotiations. Two states rather then 1 occupying state and one occupied stateless group

Why not; hamas used that phrase with great sucess in gaza elections. Only they werent threatening financial backing it was vote as we say or die. But thats ok right?

PARIS — Unesco defied Washington’s threat of an American funding cutoff on Monday and approved a Palestinian bid for full membership by a vote of 107 to 14, with 52 abstentions.

Legislation dating back more than 15 years mandates a complete cutoff of American financing to any United Nations agency that accepts the Palestinians as a full member. Unesco — the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — depends on the United States for 22 percent of its budget, about $70 million a year.

The Obama administration and Unesco had tried to avert the approval and diplomats had desperately negotiated with Congress, the Palestinians and other Unesco member states to find a resolution that would preserve the agency’s budget.

Unesco, perhaps most famous for designating world heritage sites, is a major global development agency whose missions include promoting literacy, science, clean water and education, including sex education and equal treatment for girls and young women.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/world/middleeast/unesco-approves-full-membership-for-palestinians.html