Posted 4:31 pm Thursday, November 29, 2012
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Palestinians celebrate UN statehood vote
KARIN LAUB,Associated Press
MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press
MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinians have erupted in wild cheers, hugging each other and honking car horns after the United Nations voted to grant them, at least formally, what they have long yearned for — a state of their own.
In the central celebration in the West Bank city of Ramallah, hundreds crowding into the main square waved Palestinian flags and chanted "God is great" after the U.N. General Assembly vote.
It accepted "Palestine" as a non-member observer state with a vote of 138 in favor, nine against and 41 abstentions.
The decision won't immediately change lives here, since much of what the world body is defining as the territory of that state — the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem — remains under Israeli control. Yet many Palestinians savored the global recognition.
The decision won't immediately change lives here, since much of what the world body is defining as the territory of that state — the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem — remains under Israeli control. Yet many Palestinians savored the global recognition.
Israeli left wing activists support the Palestinian U.N. bid for observer state status, during a rally in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012. The Palestinians are certain to win U.N. recognition as a state on Thursday but success could exact a high price: delaying an independent state of Palestine because of Israel's vehement opposition. Hebrew on sign reads: "Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies." (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
