UNGA votes in favor of Palestinian statehood upgrade
By HERB KEINON
Sixty five years to the day after the UN voted for the partition of Mandatory Palestine – a move the Jews accepted and the Arabs rejected -- the same body overwhelmingly voted Thursday to grant the Palestinian delegation there the upgraded status of non-member observer state."The moment has arrived for the world to say clearly: Enough of aggression, settlements and occupation," Abbas said to the packed UN General Assembly."We did not come here seeking to delegitimize a State established years ago, and that is Israel; rather we came to affirm the legitimacy of the State that must now achieve its independence, and that is Palestine," he said."We did not come here to add further complications to the peace process, which Israel’s policies have thrown into the intensive care unit; rather we came to launch a final serious attempt to achieve peace," he said. "Our endeavor is not aimed at terminating what remains of the negotiations process, which has lost its objective and credibility, but rather aimed at trying to breathe new life into the negotiations and at setting a solid foundation for it based on the terms of reference of the relevant international resolutions in order for the negotiations to succeed."
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