"There was a statement that the (Palestinian) membership in UNESCO could undermine the efforts to find a peaceful solution. What is the correlation between UNESCO and a peaceful solution?" Sidarto Danusubroto, a member of the House of Representatives (DPR)`s Commission I, said here on Tuesday.
"It`s a concern if now Palestine is admitted as a full member of the UN agency, and then immediately the US cuts off the funding," Sidarto, a politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDIP), said.
He added the Indonesian government must support Palestine as full member of UNESCO.
"We should be happy because it`s a universal recognition for the Palestinian nation which has been denied its rights so far," he said.
"UNESCO has a program to educate the people and if Palestine is admitted as a UNESCO member, I think it`s because Palestine indeed needs UNESCO assistance," he added.
The US government has cut off tens of millions of dollars in annual funding to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) after it voted to admit Palestine as a full member.
Victoria Nuland, the US state department spokeswoman, said payments to the Paris-based organization would be stopped immediately. She said Washington would refrain from making a $60m payment it planned to deliver in November.
"Today`s vote by the member states of UNESCO to admit Palestine as a member is regrettable, premature, and undermines our shared goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East,`` Nuland said.
The Palestinian bid received 107 "yes" votes during a UNESCO meeting in the French capital, with 14 countries voting against and 52 abstaining, enough to meet the required two-thirds majority of countries present and voting. (*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
