General Assembly votes to upgrade Palestine
Top news: The U.N. General Assembly voted to upgrade Palestine's status to nonmember observer state against strong opposition from Israel and the United States. 138 voted for the motion with 8 opposed and 41 abstentions on the 65th anniversary of the vote that divided the British mandate of Palestine, creating the state of Israel.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas personally addressed the meeting, saying, "the General Assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the state of Palestine." Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor accused the president of failing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, saying, "the Palestinian leadership has never recognized that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people."
Canada, Panama, the Czech Republic and four small Pacific island countries joined the United States and Israel in opposition to the measure. The vote also showed increasing support for Palestinian statehood in Europe.
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