Despite strong opposition from the United States and the threat of the loss of millions in funding, the board of Unesco — the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — gave initial approval Wednesday to a Palestinian bid for membership, another step toward Palestine's campaign for U.N. statehood. Palestinians have held observer status at the United Nations and Unesco since the mid-1970s. But on Sept. 23, President Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, formally requested full United Nations statehood for his still undefined country.
