Victoria Nuland – U.S. Cuts Off UNESCO Funding After Palestinian Vote

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[Victoria Nuland - U.S. Cuts Off UNESCO Funding After Palestinian Vote]

[Victoria Nuland (Born 1961)] Source: LYBIO.net
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.

Palestinian membership as a state in UNESCO triggers long-standing legislative restrictions, which will compel the United States to refrain from making contributions to UNESCO.

Start with the premise this process in UNESCO began with a Palestinian petition for membership, which we thought was ill-advised and ill-considered, and which we so said to the Palestinians at the time. So the Palestinians made a move here that we didn’t think was conducive to the environment for the talks or conducive to ah getting us back to the table. That is our concern. We want to get the Palestinians their state. It’s only going to happen if we can get these parties back to the table. We have to create an environment that gets them back to the table, and this is not helpful.

The United States remains steadfast in its support for the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state, but such a state can only be realized through direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

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.

US 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 committment to UNESCO, and we will consult with Congress to ensure that US interests and influence are preserved.

[Reporter]
Does that mean that you have stopped, effectively, today contributing to UNESCO?

[Victoria Nuland]
It does.

[Reporter]
It does.

[Victoria Nuland]
We were to have made a sixty million dollar payment to UNESCO in November, and we will not be making that payment.

[Reporter]
Sorry, sixty million?

[Victoria Nuland]
Sixty million.

[Reporter]
And that is part of a tranche of the total of eighty?

[Victoria Nuland]
Correct.

[Reporter]
Alright. So, this is not particularly a banner day for US diplomacy. If you count the abstentions, you had a hundred and fifty-nine countries did not vote the way you did. But only 13 did. That would seem to suggest that these countries don’t agree with you that this is such a big problem. Those countries included the French, France. They included numerous members of the Security Council. What happens to them? Now that you’re punishing UNESCO, what happens to these countries that voted to in this “regrettable” way that is going to undermine the peace process?

[Victoria Nuland] Source: LYBIO.net
Those countries obviously made their own national decisions on this vote. We disagree with them. We made clear that we disagree with them before the vote. We make clear that we disagree with them after the vote. We also make clear here today that we want to continue our relationship with UNESCO. But as we said before this vote and as we have had to say today, legislative restrictions compell us to withhold our funding now, and that will have an impact on UNESCO.

[Reporter]
But going back to what you said in your opening, you said that this was regrettable, premature, and undermines our shared goal. Whose shared goal? Who shares this goal other than the thirteen other countries that voted with you, now.

[Victoria Nuland]
Countries all over the international system share the goal of a Palestinian state in secure borders —

[Reporter]
Why would they possibly do something, how could they possibly do something that you say is so horrible and detrimental to that process.

[Victoria Nuland]
Ya –

[Reporter]
How can you still count on them as sharing this goal?

[Victoria Nuland]
You’ll have to speak to them about why they made the decision they made. We considered that this was, as I said, regrettable, premature, and undermines the prospect of getting where we want to go. And that’s what we’re concerned about.

[Reporter]
Okay, and and how does it undermine exactly the prospect of where you want to go?

[Victoria Nuland] Source: LYBIO.net
The concern is that it creates tensions when all of us should be concerting our efforts to get the parties back to the table.

[Reporter]
The only thing it does is it upsets Israel and it triggers this law that you said will require you to stop funding UNESCO. Is there anything else? There’s nothing that changes on the ground, is there?

[Victoria Nuland]
Our concern is that this could exacerbate ah the environment which we are trying to work through so that the parties will get back to the table.

[Reporter]
How exactly does it exacerbate the environment if it changes nothing on the ground unlike, say, construction of settlements. It changes nothing on the ground. It gives Palestine membership in UNESCO, which was a body the US didn’t – was so unconcerned about for many years that it wasn’t even a member.

[Victoria Nuland] Well, I think you know that this administration is committed to UNESCO, rejoined UNESCO, wants to see UNESCO’s work go forward.

[Reporter]
Actually, it was the last administration that rejoined UNESCO, not this one. But I need – I need to have some kind of clarity on how this undermines the peace process — other than the fact that it upsets Israel.

[Victoria Nuland]
Again, we are trying to get both of these parties back to the table. That’s what we’ve been doing all along. That was the basis for the President’s speech in May, basis of the diplomacy that the Quartet did through the summer, the basis of the statement that the Quartet came out with in September. So in that context, we have been trying to improve the relationship between these parties, improve the environment between them, and we are concerned that we exacerbate tensions with this, and it makes it harder to get the parties back to the table.

[Reporter] Source: LYBIO.net
Since since since the talks broke off last September until today, how many times have they met together, with all your effort?

[Victoria Nuland]
How many times have the parties met?

[Reporter]
Yes.

[Victoria Nuland]
I think you know the answer to that question.

[Reporter]
Correct.

[Victoria Nuland]
It doesn’t change the fact that we are committed —

[Reporter]
So how can things get worse than they already are?

[Victoria Nuland] Source: LYBIO.net
Matt, I think you’re engaged in a polemic here rather than questions. Sihead, please

Victoria Nuland – U.S. Cuts Off UNESCO Funding After Palestinian Vote. [Victoria Nuland]: We were to have made a sixty million dollar payment to UNESCO in November, and we will not be making that payment. Complete Full Transcript, Dialogue, Remarks, Saying, Quotes, Words And Text.