UNESCO grants membership to Palestine

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voted in favor of the Palestinian Autonomy's accession bid on Monday, RIA Novosti reported.

The move came amid a threat from the US to cut off funding for the organization in response.

UNESCO is the first UN body to recognize Palestine since it made a statehood membership bid to the United Nations in September which was blocked by a US veto in the Security Council.

One hundred and seven UNESCO member states voted in favor of the Palestinian bid, while 14 were against and 52 abstained.

Among the countries that supported the Palestinian bid were France, Greece, Norway, Russia and Spain.

French support came as a surprise as Paris has repeatedly said that Palestine’s membership of UNESCO was untimely.

Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Sweden and the United States opposed the bid.

Nimrod Barkan, the Israeli envoy to UNESCO, said the vote was "tragic for the idea of UNESCO."

The U.S. representative at UNESCO, David Killion said the decision would "complicate our ability to support UNESCO."

"The only way forward to the Palestinian state we seek is through negotiations," Killion said. "We believe efforts such we have seen today are counterproductive."