BICOM

The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) is planning to join three UN agencies in response to events in Gaza.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Palestinian officials confirmed that PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has signed the applications for membership of three UN organisations “to strengthen the standing of the State of Palestine in the international community”.

Abbas previously told the US that he would not seek to join the UN agencies, but a Palestinian source said: “Back when we dealt with the US as an honest broker in the peace process, it asked us not to join these organisations and we complied. However, now that it has become clear that the US is not an honest broker at all, we decided to exercise our right in joining them.”

The US has made it clear to the PLO that joining new UN organisations prior to a resolution of the conflict will have implications for US aid, in accordance with US law. One specific clause in the legislation states: “No funds authorised to be appropriated by this Act or any other Act shall be available for the UN or any specialised agency thereof which accords the Palestine Liberation Organisation the same standing as member states.”

In 1994 the US Congress passed a law which stipulated that the Government must cease its funding to any UN agency that grants full membership to any group that does not have “internationally recognised attributes of statehood,” which includes the Palestinian Authority according to the US.

The PLO has been a full member of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) since 2011 and has had non-member observer status at the UN since 2012.