BICOM

A vote on the Palestinian application for membership of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) is expected to take place today or tomorrow, following Palestinian refusal to withdraw the application, despite US and European Union pressure to do so.

The vote will take place at UNESCO’s General Assembly in Paris. Helga Schmid, the EU representative at Quartet talks last week, said that the application was a ‘provocative act’ and mentioned it in the same context as Israeli building in settlements. This led to angry responses from Palestinian officials.

The Palestinians have refused a compromise proposal from Brussels which would have offered them ‘member state-minus’ status at UNESCO. The EU Spokesperson, in a statement on the matter, said that the issue of Palestinian UN membership should be discussed at the UN in New York, before the issue is dealt with by specialised agencies such as UNESCO.

In a separate development, Robert Serry, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told Haaretz in a interview on Friday that in the event that the PA crumbles, Israel should not expect the international community to ‘pay the bill.’ Serry also said in the interview that he did not discount the possibility of outbursts of violence in the West Bank without progress in negotiations.