The UN General Assembly – the largest representative body of world nations – overwhelmingly voted to give Palestinians the right to be non-member observer state status with a 138-9 verdict on a resolution also co-sponsored by Pakistan.
The new status awarded by the 193-member assembly was seen as a landmark moral and political victory for the Palestinians and a stark measure of further isolation of Israel and its backers.
Only nine countries voted against the resolution while 41 chose abstention in a blow to Israeli diplomacy.
Commenting on the vote, the New York Times called the outcome as a “stinging defeat for Israel and the United States and a boost for President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority.”
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Masood Khan personally congratulated President Mahmoud Abbas after the vote and reaffirmed Islamabad’s unstinted support for their longstanding cause.
“The people and the Government of Pakistan extend their heartiest congratulations to Palestine on becoming non-member Observer State,” he said, conveying President Asif Ali Zardari’s and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf’s congratulations on the occasion.
Pakistan, Ambassador Khan said, has always demonstrated solidarity with the people of Palestine and always stood with Palestinian people in the international forums, especially at the United Nations.
Pakistan, he said, sees the development as a step towards the goal of full Palestinian membership at the world body.
The vote on Thursday evening was a globally followed development as millions of Arabs glued to their TV sets to watch the outcome
Analysts say the victory would give political weight to the Palestinian Authority but US Ambassador to UN Susan Rice said it would not change anything on ground and that a two-state goal can only be achieved through negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.
China, France and Russia backed Palestinians’ successful bid while Germany and Britain abstained.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his support for a two-state solution to the decades-old Middle Eastern conflict but at the same time also stressed the importance of a viable Palestinian state living side by side a secure Israel.
Before the vote, the Palestinian leader and Ron Prosor, the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, accused each other of not doing enough to advance peace prospects in the Middle East.
”We have not heard one word from any Israeli official expressing any sincere concern to save the peace process,” Abbas said.
“The moment has arrived for the world to say clearly: enough of aggression, settlements and occupation,” he said, advocating the cause of the resolution.
Israeli Ambassador, speaking after Abbas, expressed support for a two-state resolution to the conflict, but said it could only be achieved through negotiations.
“That’s right. Two states for two peoples,” Mr. Prosor said. “In fact, President Abbas, I did not hear you use the phrase ‘two states for two peoples’ this afternoon.
