Palestinian flag raised at Unesco after admission

The Palestinian Rehabilitation Committee raised the Unesco flag next to the national Palestinian flag in front of Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque or the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the southern West Bank city's old quarter on December 13, 2011, as the Palestinian flag was hoisted at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, a month after the Palestinians' admission to the UN cultural agency sparked anger and reprisals from the United States and Israel. -AFP Photo

PARIS: The Palestinian flag was raised for the first time on Tuesday above a UN agency, the Unesco headquarters in Paris, in a diplomatic victory won despite stiff resistance from the US and Israel.

Attending the ceremony, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said membership of the UN’s education, science and culture agency represented the key first recognition of his state and he hoped other world bodies would follow suit.

“This admission is a first recognition of Palestine,” Abbas said. “It is moving to see our flag raised today at a UN agency. I hope that this will be a good omen for Palestine’s admission to other international organisations.”

Admission to Unesco has had no impact on the Palestinians’ bid for full UN membership. They would need nine votes out of 15 in the Security Council, but the United States has made clear that it would veto the bid. Abbas said efforts were continuing to gain full UN membership and admission to other international institutions.

“We are currently holding talks with the parties,” he said when asked about the Security Council at a press conference.

“We have not yet asked for a vote but this could happen at any moment. If we don’t have a majority, we will repeat our request again and again.””We intend to address all international organisations,” he said, adding: “But we will chose the right time to do this.”

The Palestinians were admitted to Unesco in late October, when its general assembly voted 107-14 to make Palestine its 195th member.

The result angered the United States, Israel’s staunch ally, which says the Palestinians must reach a peace agreement with the Jewish state before they can become full members of an international organisation.

Washington immediately suspended its funding to the UN body, which selects and oversees World Heritage sites and also works in areas from literacy and media freedom to science and environmental issues.