By Edith M Lederer with 3 News online staff
The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly voted to give Palestine a non-member observer status.
The vote was passed 138-9, with 41 countries abstaining.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has told the UN General Assembly before the key vote that it "is being asked today to issue the birth certificate of Palestine."
The Palestinians were certain to win UN recognition as a state, but Israel and the United States warned it could delay hopes of achieving an independent Palestinian state through peace talks with Israel.
Abbas said the vote is the last chance to save the two-state solution.
The General Assembly vote was certain to succeed, with most of the 193 member states sympathetic to the Palestinians. Several key countries, including France, recently announced they would support the move to elevate the Palestinians from the status of UN observer to nonmember observer state.
Palestinians say the successful vote will strengthen their hand in future talks with Israel, which has lambasted the recognition bid as an attempt to bypass such negotiations.
Jubilant Palestinians crowded around outdoor screens and television sets at home Thursday to watch the United Nations vote.
At least formally, the vote would put Palestine on equal footing with Israel, meaning future talks would be conducted between two states, rather than between a military occupier and a people under occupation.
The vote grants Abbas an overwhelming international endorsement for his key position: establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, the territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. With Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu opposed to a pullback to the 1967 lines, this should strengthen Abbas' hand if peace talks resume.
The UN bid also could help Abbas restore some of his standing, which has been eroded by years of standstill in peace efforts. His rival, Hamas, deeply entrenched in Gaza, has seen its popularity rise after an Israeli offensive on targets linked to the Islamic militant group there earlier this month.
Watch a live stream of the General Assembly plenary meeting on Palestine below.
AP
source: newshub archive
