United Nations: The United Nations General Assembly voted to approve raising Palestinian flag at UN headquarters.
The resolution “decides that the flags of non-member observer states at the UN maintaining permanent observer missions shall be raised at Headquarters and UN offices following the flags of the States Members of the UN”, reported Xinhua news agency. A total of 119 countries voted “yes”, 45 abstained and eight countries voted “no”.
In 2012, UN General Assembly granted an update of Palestine’s status to non-member state, which is an implicit and symbolic recognition of Palestine’s statehood at the UN. The resolution also requests the Secretary-General to take necessary measures for the implementation of this decision during the 70th session of the General Assembly and within 20 days of its adoption. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the UN will follow the decision of the General Assembly, adding “it’s up to the member states to make that decision”.
After the vote, Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said the “historic” vote constitutes the information of the international community in support of a just, lasting, comprehensive and peaceful solution to the question of Palestine.
