(VitalNews.org) – The United States could face a difficult decision if Palestinians succeed in establishing a workaround to official recognition. This could lead to the United States pulling funding from the U.N. in protest of this decision.
Anne Bayefsky, president of Human Rights Voices and director of the Touro University Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, spoke out about the decision. “If the draft resolution as it currently stands is adopted, U.S. law demands that the U.S. withhold all funds from the U.N. The question is: Where is Congress? It needs to make it very clear, very publicly, that American law will be upheld and take immediate steps to do so.”
Decades ago the United States passed Public Law 101-246, which authorized appropriations for one year for the Department of State. However, one section of the bill expressed concerns over the inclusion of the PLO, Palestine Liberation Organization, in the United Nations.
“No funds authorized to be appropriated from this act or any other Act shall be available for the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof which accords the Palestine Liberation Organization the same standing as member states,” the section stated.
The phrase “any other act” has caused some controversy surrounding what the United States would need to do if the group were to obtain privileges and powers as a fully recognized U.N. member.
The United States, most likely, didn’t think that they’d encounter this problem especially as the U.S. has made it a point to turn down any measures that try to recognize Palestine as a full member of the U.N.
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