OFFICIAL: UNESCO - 1st UN org to admit #Palestine. Flag now flies at Paris HQ.

Palestinian flag to fly at UNESCO headquarters

December 13, 2011

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The Palestinian flag will be hoisted Tuesday at UNESCO headquarters, over a month after its admission to the UN cultural agency sparked anger and reprisals from the United States and Israel.

President Mahmoud Abbas will travel to Paris to attend the event, which led Washington to pull funding to the UN organization, and which is seen by many as a step on the Palestinians’ road to eventual UN membership.
“President Abbas wants to show the importance he attaches to UNESCO,” said a Palestinian diplomat. “And this is the first time that the flag will be flown at the headquarters of a UN institution.”
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization says the flag-hoisting is a symbolic ceremony “to mark Palestine’s admission to the organization” that takes place each time a new member joins.
The Palestinians were admitted to the body in late October, when the UNESCO general assembly voted 107-14 to make Palestine its 195th member.
The result angered the United States, Israel’s staunch ally, which says the Palestinians must first reach a peace agreement with Israel before they can become full members of an international organization.
Washington immediately suspended its funding to the UN body, which selects and oversees World Heritage sites and also works in areas from literacy and media freedom to science and environmental issues.
US President Barack Obama said he had frank and firm words with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, voicing US disappointment because Paris had supported the Palestinian UNESCO bid.
The US cash freeze deprived UNESCO of 22 percent of its budget, leaving a hole of $65 million this year and a $143 million shortfall for 2012-2013.
This forced its director general, Irina Bokova, to announce drastic savings, even though some countries pledged exceptional contributions, among them Indonesia with $10 million and Gabon with $2 million.
Israel, for its part, took its own retaliatory measures, by deciding to accelerate settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank and freezing the transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority.
Every month, Israel transfers tens of millions of dollars in customs duties on Palestinian-bound goods that transit through Israeli ports, but it often freezes them as a punitive measure during disagreements.
Faced with international criticism, Israel later lifted its freeze on the funds which represent a large chunk of the Palestinian Authority’s budget.
Nine votes out of 15 votes are needed in the Security Council for full UN membership, but the United States has made clear that it would veto the bid.
Abbas, who reiterated on December 5 that he would push on with his campaign for UN membership, will meet Sarkozy after the UNESCO ceremony, then go on a tour that takes him to the capitals of Britain and Turkey.

 http://palestinianmissionuk.com/?p=12262

Palestinian flag to fly at UNESCO headquarters

(AFP Photo/Mohammed Abed)

http://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-flag-fly-unesco-headquarters-234129405.html

The Palestinian flag will be hoisted Tuesday at UNESCO headquarters, over a month after its admission to the UN cultural agency sparked anger and reprisals from the United States and Israel.

President Mahmud Abbas will travel to Paris to attend the event, which led Washington to pull funding to the UN organisation, and which is seen by many as a step on the Palestinians' road to eventual UN membership.

"President Abbas wants to show the importance he attaches to UNESCO," said a Palestinian diplomat. "And this is the first time that the flag will be flown at the headquarters of a UN institution."

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation says the flag-hoisting is a symbolic ceremony "to mark Palestine's admission to the organisation" that takes place each time a new member joins.

The Palestinians were admitted to the body in late October, when the UNESCO general assembly voted 107-14 to make Palestine its 195th member

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