Palestine officially becomes full member of UNESCO

With 107 votes in favor, 14 votes against and 52 abstentions, Palestine officially became a full member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), bringing the total number of members of this organization to 195 countries.

Palestine will have to sign and ratify the organization's charter for membership to take effect.

The world hopes Palestine will have an official seat at the United Nations - Photo: AFP

The vote to approve Palestine’s full membership took place on October 31 at the annual session of the UNESCO General Conference in Paris, France. France, along with Arab, African, Latin American and Asian countries, including China and India, voted in favor of Palestine. With this result, UNESCO has become the first agency of the United Nations (UN) to grant Palestine full membership.

Previously, on September 23, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas submitted an application to become an official member of the United Nations and the UN Security Council is expected to discuss this issue next November.

In early October, the UNESCO Executive Board adopted a recommendation to grant Palestine full membership. Palestine has been an observer to UNESCO since 1974.

In an initial response, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki affirmed that "this is a historic moment to give Palestine back its rights".

Becoming a member of UNESCO is considered a victory for President Abbas's government in its goal of establishing an independent Palestinian state and becoming a full member of the UN. However, the US and Israel have opposed the vote. US lawmakers have threatened to withdraw the annual $80 million support for UNESCO's activities, equivalent to 22% of the organization's funding.

According to VNA