UNESCO executive committee recommends full membership of Palestine

The executive committee of the United Nations cultural organization UNESCO on Wednesday recommended that the world body accept Palestine as a full member with the rights of a state. UNESCO’s member states voted by 40 votes in favor to four against ? with 14 abstentions ? to approve the Palestinian bid, which will now be submitted to the UNESCO general assembly at the end of the month for approval. After winning partnership status from the Council of Europe, European Union’s main human rights body, the Palestinian Authority has been looking at alternative institutions that may recognize their statehood. The UNESCO vote will put pressure on the United Nations Security Council which received a statehood bid from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last month, in a campaign triggered by a breakdown of peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel. The Palestinians have had observer status at UNESCO since 1974. In order to gain full membership, so-called "states" that are not members of the United Nations may be admitted to UNESCO with a two-thirds majority of the General Conference. But it remains unclear whether Palestine would need to be a recognized state for its UNESCO bid to succeed. This United Nations request, which Abbas presented to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on September 23, is being studied by the Security Council, which is expected to vote in the coming weeks.