U.N. makes landmark decision on Palestine

The United Nations has voted to update the status of Palestine to a non-member observer state. The historic vote took place on Thursday in a packed session at the U.N. headquarters. More than two-thirds of the 193 member states were needed to approve the motion for Palestine to be recognized. It was passed 138-9 with 41 abstentions. Many European countries, Russia, China, India and Brazil voted in favour of recognizing the Palestinians. The USA, Canada and Israel were among those voting against, while Germany, Britain, Australia and Colombia abstained. The vote came 65 years to the day that the U.N. adopted a resolution recommending the partition of Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states. Israel dismissed the vote as "negative political theatre" and announced the building of 3,000 new homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Celebrations broke out across the West Bank as news of the vote came through. The fact that the U.N. has implicitly recognized Palestine's sovereignty was greeted as a major diplomatic victory. Veteran Palestinian peace negotiator Hannan Ashrawi told reporters what the recognition meant for Palestine: "Getting state status is what empowers the Palestinians, what defines our territory as occupied, what defines our relationships regionally and with the rest of the world," she said. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said he hoped the U.N. vote would "breathe new life into [peace] negotiations" with Israel. He said it was "the last chance to save the two-state solution". Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu said: "The resolution…won't change anything on the ground. It won't advance the establishment of a Palestinian state, but rather, put it further off."