The Palestinian Authority said it can join dozens of U.N. agencies, but has held off as the United States attempts to revive the peace process.
Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said May 20 that the legal work has been prepared to allow the P.A. to join 63 U.N. agencies and conventions.
He said the Palestinians are working to make sure that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry succeeds in restarting the stalled peace negotiations.
“Make no mistake, we are exerting every possible effort in order to see that Mr. Kerry succeeds,” Erekat said. “No one benefits more from the success of Secretary Kerry than Palestinians, and no one loses more from his failure than Palestinians.”
Erekat said Palestinians have no preconditions for resuming negotiations with Israel — freezing settlements and releasing Palestinian prisoners are Israeli obligations, he said, not preconditions.
The Palestinian Authority was upgraded last November at the United Nations to a non-member observer state. After that, it was approved for membership in UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the only U.N. agency it has joined to date.
The United States cut UNESCO funding in the wake of the vote and Israel severed contact with the organization. — jta