Brasília – This Tuesday (!3), the Palestinian flag was raised for the first time at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (Unesco), in Paris, France. The raising of the flag is a celebration of Palestine’s full Unesco membership, which occurred in October and prompted a reaction from the United States, which suspended its provision of funding to the agency.
The ceremony was attended by the president of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, the Unesco managing director, Irina Bokova, and the Unesco General Conference president, Katalin Bogyay. The presidents of the Unesco Executive Council, Alissandra Cummins, and of Unesco regional groups were also in attendance.
Palestine was voted a member of Unesco on October 31st, during the 36th General Conference session. The Brazilian government backed the vote. In an address, the president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, praised the entry of Palestine into the organization. Unesco was the first agency of the United Nations (UN) to admit Palestine as a full member.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
