The US might have to make a tough choice if the Palestinians are able to find a way to avoid official recognition. Because of this, the US might stop giving money to the UN to protest this choice.
Anne Bayefsky spoke out against the choice. She is the head of Human Rights Voices and the director of the Touro University Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust. “U.S. law says that the U.S. must withhold all funds from the U.N. if the draft resolution as it stands now is approved.” What we want to know is: Where is Congress? It needs to make it very clear in public that it will follow American law and act right away to do so.
The United States passed Public Law 101-246 many years ago, which gave the Department of State money for a year. In one part of the bill, however, worries were raised about the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) joining the UN.
The section said, “No money that can be taken out of this act or any other act shall be available for the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof that gives the Palestine Liberation Organization the same status as member states.”
There has been some debate about what the United States would have to do if the group wanted to become a fully accepted U.N. member, specifically about the phrase “any other act.”
Probably, the U.S. didn’t think they’d run into this problem, since they have made it clear that they will not support any steps that would make Palestine a full member of the U.N.
