By Ramesh Jaura
BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – While the two-state solution envisaging an independent State of Palestine appears to be increasingly consigned to oblivion, the Palestinian Authority is resolutely pursuing its strategy of seeking statehood through intergovernmental organizations that are a part of the UN system.
The latest in a series of such bids is Palestine’s membership of the Vienna-based United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) cautiously announced in a press release on May 25, 2018. It pointed out that on May 17 “the State of Palestine deposited its instruments of accession to the Constitution” of the UNIDO “with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who is the depositary of the UNIDO Constitution, at the Treaty Section of the Legal Office of the UN Secretariat in New York.”
The UNIDO Constitution stipulates that “States members of the United Nations or of a specialized agency or of the International Atomic Energy Agency” may become members of the Organization by depositing instruments of accession.
The press release concluded that the UN Treaty Section informed UNIDO on May 18 that “its Constitution entered into force for the State of Palestine” on May 17. “The State of Palestine has therefore automatically become a member of the Organization.”
On May 24, Palestine’s envoy to the UN in Geneva officially submitted a letter from President Mahmoud Abbas seeking membership of the Geneva-based UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Ibrahim Khraishi, the Palestinian Ambassador and Permanent Observer to the UN in Geneva, hand delivered the letter to UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi. The letter expresses the State of Palestine’s intention to become a member of UNCTAD.
“As part of the UN Secretariat, rather than a specialized agency, UNCTAD’s responses to all major international issues are based on consultations with the global secretariat of the United Nations and, following the State of Palestine’s request, it has begun these with UN headquarters in New York,” UNCTAD said.
Under UNCTAD’s rules of procedure, the Geneva-based organization’s members are states which are already members of the United Nations – or of the world body’s specialized agencies, which is the case of the State of Palestine, part of the Paris-based UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
UNESCO’s General Conference, the agency’s highest ruling body, took the decision on October 31, 2011 by a vote of 107 in favour to 14 against, with 52 abstentions, to admit Palestine as a full member bringing the total number of UNESCO member States to 195.
Admission to UNESCO for States that are not members of the UN requires a recommendation by the agency’s Executive Board and a two-thirds majority vote in favour by the General Conference.
The General Conference, which consists of the representatives of the States that are members of the agency, meets every two years, and is attended by member States and associate members, together with observers for non-member States, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
“The admission of a new member State is a mark of respect and confidence,” then UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said following the vote. “This must be an opportunity to strengthen the Organization and not weaken it, a chance for all to commit once again to the values we share and not to be divided.”
Bokova voiced concern by the “potential challenges” that may arise to the universality and financial stability of UNESCO. “I am worried we may confront a situation that could erode UNESCO as a universal platform for dialogue. I am worried for the stability of its budget,” she noted. “It is well-known that funding from our largest contributor, the United States, may be jeopardized,” Bokova said. “UNESCO’s work is too important to be jeopardized,” she stressed.
On October 12, 2017, the Department of State notified the UNESCO Director-General of the U.S. decision to withdraw from the organization and to seek to establish a permanent observer mission to UNESCO. Pursuant to the UNESCO Constitution, U.S. withdrawal will take effect on December 31, 2018. The United States will remain a full member of UNESCO until that time.
Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said, the withdrawal decision “was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO.
He said: “The United States indicated to the Director General its desire to remain engaged with UNESCO as a non-member observer state in order to contribute U.S. views, perspectives and expertise on some of the important issues undertaken by the organization, including the protection of world heritage, advocating for press freedoms, and promoting scientific collaboration and education.”
UNCTAD said, President Abbas’ request to join the organization comes as the beleaguered Palestine – whom the General Assembly accorded ‘Non-Member Observer State’ Status in United Nations on November 29, 2012 – has also applied to be part of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The Palestine Authority has also used its upgraded ‘Non-Member Observer State’ Status in the UN to become members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in April 2015. On May 22, 2018 it urged the International Criminal Court to immediately carry out a full investigation into what it described as the successive and continuing Israeli crimes against Palestinians since 2014.
The Palestinian foreign minister, Riyad al-Malki, handed over at the court’s headquarters in The Hague a so-called referral to prosecutors that also calls for the court to investigate Israeli settlement policies in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
According to a Palestinian statement, the referral document reinforces the Palestinian view “that there is sufficient compelling evidence of the ongoing commission of grave crimes to warrant an immediate investigation.”
ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement on May 22: “Since 16 January 2015, the situation in Palestine has been subject to a preliminary examination in order to ascertain whether the criteria for opening an investigation are met. This preliminary examination has seen important progress and will continue to follow its normal course, strictly guided by the requirements of the Rome Statute.”
While the ICC Prosecutor said that “a referral . . . does not automatically lead to the opening of an investigation,” Israel immediately slammed the Palestinian move as “legally invalid.” [IDN-InDepthNews – 26 May 2018]
Photo: Palestine is resolutely pursuing its strategy of seeking statehood through intergovernmental organizations. On May 22, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki met Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda at the ICC Headquarters in The Hague calling for the court to investigate Israeli settlement policies in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Copyright: ICC-CPI
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