The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution on Thursday to upgrade Palestine to a “non-member state” at the United Nations, implicitly recognizing a Palestinian state.
There were 138 votes in favor, nine against and 41 abstentions.
Addressing the assembly in New York ahead of the vote, President Mahmoud Abbas said the UN bid was the last chance to save the two-state solution.
“Sixty-five years ago on this day, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 181, which partitioned the land of historic Palestine into two states and became the birth certificate for Israel,” Abbas told the 193-nation assembly after receiving a standing ovation.
“The General Assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the State of Palestine,” he said.
The president told the UN that Israel’s war on Gaza highlighted the urgency of ending the Israeli occupation.
“It also reaffirmed the Israeli government’s adherence to the policy of occupation, brute force and war,” he said.
“We believe that the international community is standing before the last chance of the two-state solution.”
“We’ve listened for the last months to the incessant flood of threats in response to our peaceful, political and diplomatic request in the UN and have watched (Israel’s) war on Gaza,” Abbas said.
“We haven’t heard one word from any Israeli official expressing sincere concern for the peace process.”
Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu immediately condemned Abbas’ speech as “hostile and poisonous”, and full of “false propaganda”.
“These are not the words of a man who wants peace,” Netanyahu also said in a statement released by his office after Abbas spoke.
US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton called the vote “unfortunate and counterproductive,” saying it puts more obstacles on the path to peace.
The move falls short of full UN membership which needs sanction by the Security Council, where the US wields a veto. But it allows Palestine access to the International Criminal Court and other international bodies.
(Ma’an)
Thank goodness the U.N. members voted this way, viva Palestina. Hopefully we will see some more positive changes.
Congratulations from the people of Canada. Please believe me that our idiotic federal government does not represent the majority of people in this country today. We seem to be a USA stamp of approval machine lately. Sorry. I hang my head in shame today from our UN ‘no’ vote.
But none-the-less, I am so happy Palestine became properly recognized today, it is about flipping time!!!
In-fact, I was really surprised of the Canadian position.
I Love Canadian People, and I believe you.
Peace, Freedom & Long Life to both side: Israel & Palestine.
Renzo (
Ireland.
What a joke. As Abba Eban once noted, if the Arabs proposed a resolution in UNGA that sky was black by day and blue by night, and that the Jews are to blame, or wtte, they’d get a 2/3 majority. That’s what we’ve seen today with a few spineless European countries joining the circus. I suppose now we await the battle, Syrian style, over who runs the PA mafia, Abbas terrorists or Hamas terrorists or maybe Islamic Jihad terrorists. Hopefully Israel will now annex major settlements and put that issue to bed.
At long last the State of Palestine has been recognized by the UN. Congratulations to all of the Palestinian people. I feel ashamed to be Canadian knowing that our Federal government voted against the resolution. However many Canadians support your cause and I am definitely one of them.
Cheers
One very happy day for me and for lots of people around the world. Congratulations Palestine, or shall I say Mabruk?
big big congratulations to our respected and modest Palestine …all Indians and Kashmirs wish you peace and prosperity …
Desde la Ciudad de México envío un abrazo fraterno al pueblo Palestino incansable reivindicador de la dignidad humana, defensor de su futuro con corazón, que no sólo vive, sino que es ejemplo de cómo honrar la vida.
“Todos tenemos derecho a ser libres y felices” Ricardo Flores Magón