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New York: The UN General Assembly Thursday recognized
with overwhelming support the
Palestinian Authority as a non-member observer state.
The Palestinian bid, submitted by President Mahmoud Abbas, was
approved by 138 UN members, while nine voted against it and 41
abstained from voting.
A Palestinian flag was quickly
unfurled on the floor of the General Assembly, behind the
Palestinian delegation.
The move amounts to an implicit recognition of the Palestinian
statehood and increases PA's chances of joining other UN bodies.
It also allows the Palestinian Authority to challenge the
continuing construction of Israeli settlements on the occupied
Palestinian land in the International Criminal Court.
The vote, which was taken at a
meeting of the body at its New York headquarter, represents a
long-sought victory for the Palestinians but a diplomatic defeat
for the US, with 138 countries voting in favour of the upgrade.
Abbas urged the US General Assembly before the historic vote "to
issue the birth certificate of Palestine".
He also reiterated that the Palestinians would continue their
efforts to achieve a fully-recognized statehood.
Abbas submitted Palestine's official application for recognition
as an independent state in the UN in September 2011. That bid was
blocked by a US veto in the Security Council.
Thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip greeted
the Thursday vote with high jubilation as it formally gives them
global recognition.
The Palestinian Authority, which earlier enjoyed a "permanent
observer" status at the UN, now joins the Vatican as the only
other entity with non-member observer state status.
Exactly 65 years ago, on Nov 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly
passed a resolution calling for Palestine to be partitioned
between Arabs and Jews, allowing for the formation of the Jewish
state of Israel in 1948.
The Palestinians rejected that partition plan, and decades of
tension and violence have followed.
The Palestinians demand the establishment of a Palestinian state
in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, the territories
captured by Israel in the 1967 war, as a precondition for peace
talks with Tel Aviv.
Immediately after the results were
announced, US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice
reiterated the US opposition to upgrading the Palestinians to a
nonmember an observer "entity".
"Today's unfortunate and counter-productive resolution places
further obstacles in the path to peace. That is why the United
States voted against it," she said.
"The backers of today's resolution say they seek functioning,
independent Palestinian state at peace with Israel so do we. But
we have long been clear that the only way to establish such a
Palestinian state and resolve all permanent status issues is
through the crucial if painful work of direct negotiations between
the parties."
The US and Israel voted against recognition, joined by Canada, the
Czech Republic, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and
Panama.
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