Source: Jerusalem Post
UNITED NATIONS – The Palestinian flag will fly at United Nations headquarters after the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a Palestinian resolution, infuriating Israel with a move that Palestinians described as a step toward UN membership.
There were 119 votes in favor out of 193 UN members. Eight members voted against the draft measure and 45 abstained from the vote.
The United States and Israel were among eight countries that voted against the Palestinian-drafted resolution, which says the flags of non-member observer states like Palestine “shall be raised at (UN) Headquarters (in New York) and United Nations Offices following the flags of the member states.”
Most of the 28-nation European Union were among the 45 nations that abstained from voting. However, France and more than half a dozen others voted in favor of the Palestinian resolution after the EU split on the issue.
“It’s a step to the recognition of Palestine as a full member state of the United Nations,” Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah told reporters in Paris earlier on Thursday.
