UNESCO finally voted to admit Palestine as a member state: 107 countries supported the motion, 52 abstained, and the US and Israel managed to pressure only another 12 countries to vote against it. The US responded to this small but significant exercise in global democracy by immediately announcing that it would cut off all funding to UNESCO, an educational, scientific, and cultural organization. This announcement was yet another crystal clear example of US obstructionism on the Palestinian issue, its utter disregard for world public opinion, and its unwavering and irrational support for Israel. But listen to the announcement itself, in which the US representative claims to “remain committed,” not only to UNESCO, but to an independent and sovereign Palestinian state. Reminds me of how BP remains committed to protecting the environment and Walmart remains committed to protecting and advancing workers rights. I think the phrase “remain committed to” is desperately in need of redefinition. It now appears to me something like “What I am about to say is complete bullshit and you know it and I know but please indulge me while I say it with a terribly serious look on my face and pretend to actually believe it …”
Yet another example (from Time magazine): Following the hacker attacks on Google which resulted in the theft of intellectual property as well as assaults on the Gmail accounts of Chinese human-rights advocates, Wenqi Gao, a spokesman for the Chinese consulate in New York, said, “I want to reaffirm that China is committed to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of foreign companies in our country.” Ya right.
And Israel responds by building even more new Jewish settlements .. But of course that is BY NO MEANS anything even CLOSE to punishment .. In fact completely unrelated to the whole UNESCO thing ..
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29590.htm