The UN General Assembly meets for the vote to upgrade the Palestinians’ status at 3 p.m. today, which will almost certainly pass. But both the UN and the Palestinians have little to gain from a successful vote, and a lot to lose. Senator Orrin Hatch has already filed an amendment to the upcoming defense bill that would abolish UN funding if the status change is approved:
Ahead of the vote, Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch filed an amendment to a defense bill that would eliminate funding for the United Nations if the General Assembly changes Palestine’s status.
“Increasing the Palestinians’ role in the United Nations is absolutely the wrong approach, especially in light of recent military developments in the Middle East,” he said in a statement. “Israel is one of America’s closest allies, and any movement to strengthen one of its fiercest enemies must not be tolerated.”
Senator John Barrasso has submitted a different amendment to the defense bill, which would slash U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority by 50 percent, and U.S. aid to any UN member country that votes for the status change by 20 percent. Barrasso writes at NRO:
Yesterday, I introduced an amendment to the Senate defense bill that makes it clear that undermining the peace process comes at a cost. My amendment will specifically cut 50 percent of the total U.S. funds to the Palestinian Authority and also to any U.N. entity that grants the Palestinians a status change. It also reduces by 20 percent all U.S. foreign assistance to any country voting for the status change.
The Palestinians have a history of trying to use outside groups like the U.N. to skirt the peace process. In 2011, the Palestinians sought membership in UNESCO, and got it. This automatically triggered legal restrictions on U.S. financial support, and the Obama administration was forced to cut aid to UNESCO.
At the beginning of this year, the Obama administration irresponsibly changed course and said that it would try to waive these restrictions. It signaled that the United Nations can continue to undermine that peace process with impunity and raised questions about President Obama’s support for Israel. Today’s U.N. vote is a direct consequence of the administration’s record of mixed signals about the peace process.
And that’s just from the Senate. If the vote goes through, we’ll likely see similar proposals from House Republicans, who hardly need another reason to object to UN funding or foreign aid to the PA.
Hatch et alia are obviously not serious about the Peace process.
good.
I wonder how much of a dent we would put in our national debt if we took all the money we give to countries and organizations that are not our friends and used it to pay off the debt?
I'd be in favor of an amendment to stop funding the UN entirely. In fact, I'd like to see an amendment giving the UN till this time next year to get the hell out of the US.
We hear this sturm and drang every 6 months and the spinless bastards in Congress never do a thing.
You're exactly right. I'll believe it when I see it. This vote today also shows the total fecklessness of the Obama administration. Abbas does not fear the repercussions because he is guessing -almost certainly correctly- that there will be none. (this is true to a lesser extent with Israel as well, which despite its tough talk will likely maintain the status quo).
Very true, your Imperial Majesty, and even if they did, what are the odds that President Obama would sign it?
Probably won't work and the Messiah and his minions will find a way around it. But I can't help dreaming…the image of the pauperized EU scrambling to fund the PA kleptocracy on its own with what's left of their pocket change is just too funny.
increasing the Palestinians' status may indeed be a crock, but Hatch is a jerk if he thinks that we should pull our funding of the UN because the rest of the world doesn't agree. n n n
That's only one of many good reasons to pull out of that corrupt, oppressive, dictatorship enhancing, genocide enabling, child raping debating society, or at the very least stop subsidising it.
sure there are reasons to abandon it. but there are better reasons not to do so. n n ndo you ask yourself why Israel doesn't pullout?
Yes, I do. n nExactly as I wonder why on earth people who identify and are identified as Jews continue to overwhelmingly vote for folk like Obama.
Notwithstanding the reasons why the UN might be a necessary evil and the few good things it might have accomplished (a single uniform numbering system for hazardous materials — 1301 is gasoline in America, Argentina and Afghanistan — you put a red diamond with 1301 on a truck or tank and everyone who needs to know is able to know what is in it). n nNotwithstanding that, the UN is by definition voluntary. And I, for one, have no intention of just doing something because everyone else is doing it.
Ed your participation in the UN due to your American citizenship is not voluntary. n nHowever, your American citizenship IS voluntary and you can cease being represented in the UN by renouncing your citizenship n nIt might be best for us all if you did.
9 Nations of the world remain faithful to God’s Divine purpose for Israel. After WW I & II, one would believe again the world has forgotten what began these wars and is doomed to repeat it’s errors.
George Santana said the same thing about history in general — and is often quoted as "those who fail to learn from history get to re-live the mistakes of the past." n