HOW DO YOU WORK WITH THOSE WHO HATE YOU?

On Monday Oct. 31, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) accepted the Palestinian Authority as a full member in a vote of 107-14 with 52 abstentions. One week earlier, on Oct 23, the Chairman of the PA, Mahmoud Abbas, clearly stated that “I will never recognize the Jewishness of the state, or a Jewish state.” During the same interview, Abbas said , in reference to Gilad Shalit, “Hamas kidnapped – or rather captured – a soldier and managed to keep him for 5 years, and that is a good thing.” Further, he stated, “We don’t deny it. On the contrary, it’s a good thing that on a small strip of land, 40 x 7 kilometers, they were able to keep him and hide him.”

Several nations responded quickly to UNESCO’s vote. The United States provides 22% of UNESCO’S funding which amounts to $80 million annually. According to a law passed in the U.S. by the Congress in the 1990’s and signed by President Clinton, U.S. funding must be stopped immediately.

 The Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, John Baird, said Monday that he is not happy with the vote. Canada contributes $10 million annually to UNESCO, and has decided to freeze all future “voluntary contributions”.  UNESCO is funded by both legally binding and voluntary contributions by member states, and Canada already has a legally binding obligation to give UNESCO $12 million annually until 2014.

Israel has responded by announcing it will build 1650 new homes in East Jerusalem and 350 new homes in surrounding towns. In addition, they will freeze the transfer of Palestinian tax money totaling in the tens of millions of dollars. Most of these taxes are from customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that go through Israeli ports. This money makes up a significant percent of the Palestinian budget.