United Nations Implicitly Recognizes State of Palestine

The Palestinian people's campaign to upgrade its international stature finally harvested its fruit when the General Assembly voted in approval of changing Palestine's status from a "non-member entity" to a "non-member state" yesterday, with 41 abstentions and opposition from the U.S., Israel and seven other nations. While its "observer" status is still far away from being recognized as a sovereign state in the U.N., the news of the symbolic victory was greeted by a highly emotional celebration in the streets of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Photo credit: Reuters