Tel-Chai Nation

The UN's science division has elected to make the PLO part of it, and further the disgust:

PARIS (AP) - Palestine became a full member of UNESCO on Monday, in a highly divisive move 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. [...]

Monday's vote is a symbolic breakthrough 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.

Palestinian officials are seeking full membership in the United Nations, but that effort is still under examination and the U.S. has said it will veto it unless there is a peace deal with Israel. Given that, the Palestinians separately sought membership at Paris-based UNESCO and other U.N. bodies. [...]

The U.S. ambassador to UNESCO, David Killion, said Monday's vote will "complicate" U.S. efforts to support the agency. The United States voted against the measure.

Israel's ambassador to UNESCO, Nimrod Barkan, called the vote a tragedy.

"UNESCO deals in science, not science fiction," he said. "They forced on UNESCO a political subject out of its competence."

"They've forced a drastic cut in contributions to the organization," he said.

The UN is long past time for closure already. They're not worth being a member of, and are costing billions of dollars better spent on other, better projects. Not even their science unit is worth the bother.

Update: Businessweek reports that the US has halted UNESCO funding following this disgust.

Labels: anti-semitism, dhimmitude, islam, Israel, UN corruption