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After UNESCO voted to give the Palestinians full membership, the words of State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland contained a hint that the Obama administration at the highest levels is quite seriously concerned about the possible consequences for America of cutting off funds to the UN agency as required by Zionist lobby driven law enacted by Congress. (The U.S. funds about 22 percent of UNESCO’s budget or roughly $80 million annually; and $60 million was scheduled to be sent this month).
Most of Nuland’s shortish statement would have been sweet music to the Zionist lobby’s ears.
“Today’s vote by the member states of UNESCO to admit Palestine as a member is regrettable, premature, and undermines our shared goal of a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in the Middle East. The United States remains steadfast in its support for the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state (what nonsense, I add), but such a state can only be realized through direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians (again what nonsense). The United States also remains strongly committed to robust multilateral engagement across the UN system. However, Palestinian membership as a state in UNESCO triggers longstanding legislative restrictions which will compel the United States to refrain from making contributions to UNESCO.”
But the end words of Nuland’s statement (presumably reflecting her mistress’s views) would not have been so comforting for the Zionist lobby. “U.S. engagement with UNESCO serves a wide range of our national interests on education, science, culture, and communications issues. The United States will maintain its membership in and commitment to UNESCO and we will consult with Congress to ensure that U.S. interests and influence are preserved.”One possible implication of the words emphasized is that President Obama and perhaps even Secretary of State Clinton have looked into the future and realised that if America did default on its obligations to UNESCO, there could be moves to suspend or even expel it from the agency. Probably many misinformed Americans would welcome that happening, but it would be bad for America’s image in the world. The further implication is that President Obama is at least thinking about trying to persuade Congress to untie his hands on the matter of cutting off funds to UNESCO with the argument that it’s not actually in America’s own best interests to do so.