Palestine forges ahead, hoping to join 16 more U.N. Agencies within weeks
November 1, 2011 in Palestine
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki and Palestinian ambassador to UNESCO Elias Sanbar at a news conference in Paris Oct 31.
After successfully obtaining full membership of UNESCO, the Palestinians are now examining the procedures to join other U.N. agencies, the deputy Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva said Tuesday.
“We are in a preparatory phase,” Imad Zuhairi told AFP, adding that the Palestinians are targeting to join 16 of the more than 20 organizations based in Geneva as a priority.
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ILQ Comments: It’s all about World Heritage Sites
It will be interesting to see how all this turns out. It appears that Palestine has the world on their side. One of the most serious impacts that winning membership in UNESCO will have on Israel is that it will allow the Palestinians, who previously held observer status at the organization, to apply to classify its natural and cultural sites as World Heritage Sites and thus protect them from destruction at the hands of Israel.
I would think that this one small aspect World Heritage Sites makes Palestine’s membership in UNESCO cause for their celebration as well as cause for deep consternation among US and Israeli leaders.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance. The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 states parties which are elected by their General Assembly
While each World Heritage Site remains part of the legal territory of the state wherein the site is located, UNESCO considers it in the interest of the international community to preserve each site.
