A motion to fly the Palestinian flag in front of United Nations buildings passed overwhelmingly Thursday in the U.N. General Assembly.
The motion was passed by 119 votes, and Israel and the United States were among the eight countries that voted against it. Forty-five countries abstained from the vote, including the United Kingdom, while France, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia were among the EU states that voted in favor.
Ahead of the vote, Palestinian’s representative to the U.N. Riyad Mansour said it would be “another step” toward solidifying Palestinian statehood. The motion follows the Vatican’s signing of a formal bilateral treaty recognizing Palestinian statehood in May.
The motion calls for the flags of non-member observer states, like the Palestinian territories, to fly alongside the flags of member states outside U.N. buildings. The flag of the Vatican, which is the only other non-member observer state, can now also be raised.
The resolution passed by the UN General Assembly gives 20 days for implementation of the motion.
Palestinian observers say they hope to raise the flag on September 30, when President Mahmoud Abbas is set to address world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
Israel’s U.N. representative Ron Prosor said the motion was a “blatant attempt to hijack the U.N.” and the only way to achieve a Palestinian statehood is through direct negotiations. Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. echoed these thoughts, saying the flag’s raising is “not an alternative to negotiations [between the Palestinians and Israel], and will not bring the parties closer to peace.”
Roughly 135 countries now recognize a Palestinian state.
(h/t BBC)
