Palestinian push hurts the Palestinian people and the U.N. organizations they join

"The Palestinian Authority, which calls itself the State of Palestine, has taken new steps in its drive to join as many United Nations organizations as possible. Even as it does so, it's time for U.N. member states to recognize that this ploy does little or nothing to improve the lives of Palestinians or the prospects for peace, and will hurt organizations where the Palestinians have been accepted.

As of this week, the Palestinians have become official members of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, both relatively obscure U.N. bodies. This follows on its successful bid in 2011 to join the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and subsequent accession to a number of international agreements...

How will it hurt the organizations? Two U.S. laws passed in the 1990s prohibit providing federal funds to: (1) "the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof which accords the Palestine Liberation Organization the same standing as member states" or (2) the U.N. or to any U.N. affiliated organization that 'grants full membership as a state to any organization or group that does not have the internationally recognized attributes of statehood.'

The impact of the law can be devastating for U.N. organizations because Washington is generally the largest source of their financial support..."