Meeks on UNESCO Vote

Statement by the Congressman on Vote to Grant Palestinian Membership

(WASHINGTON, DC) – Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), senior member of the House Financial Services Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee released the following statement on today’s vote in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to grant Palestinian membership to the United Nations (UN):

“Today’s vote in United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to grant Palestinian membership to this UN body, rather than signal the end of negotiations surrounding Palestinian statehood, may well exacerbate regional conflict and could result in cuts to U.S. contributions to the United Nations – with serious consequences worldwide.

A comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in the Middle East will include two states: Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people and the State of Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people. That said, I am convinced that direct negotiations provide the only path to achieving a durable, peaceful two-state solution. Efforts to achieve Palestinian statehood through unilateral declaration or to gain membership in UN special and technical agencies misdirects our attention from negotiations and will ultimately set back the peace process.

Palestinian admission to UN entities will likely be a Pyrrhic victory, at best – the resulting harm far outweighing ostensible gains. Palestinian membership in UNESCO or other UN specialized agencies outside the framework of a negotiated peace agreement could trigger provisions of U.S. law that prohibit the United States from making assessed or voluntary contributions to those agencies. The United States is UNESCO’s largest contributor, providing 22% of the organization’s budget. Loss of U.S. contributions will compromise UNESCO’s ability to fulfill its mandate.

At stake could be UNESCO-funded tsunami early warning systems, education and literacy programs for women and girls, protecting world heritage sites, and combating violent extremism by promoting tolerance, and Holocaust remembrance.

It is my firm conviction that the United States best pursues our foreign policy objectives – that is, best secures global peace, economic prosperity, universal heath, and environmental stewardship – through multilateral engagement. The United Nations is the embodiment of that conviction and the agent of these pursuits. I am deeply concerned that the ill-chosen path to Palestinian statehood (through United Nation agencies) will severely hamstring U.S. participation in the UN and gravely harm UN operations.

Much as I look forward to the day when Israel and a Palestinian state peacefully, respectfully sit side by side in the United Nations. To hasten the arrival of that day, it is most urgent that the parties return to the table to negotiate a durable, equitable and shared future.”