Palestinian Flag Likely to be Raised on UN

Local Editor

The United Nations is expected on Thursday to allow the Palestinians to raise their flag at its headquarters in New York in a symbolic move.

The General Assembly will vote at 3:00 pm on a draft resolution that diplomats say is almost certain to garner a majority in the 193-nation forum.

"It is a symbolic thing, but another step to solidify the pillars of the state of Palestine in the international arena," said Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian representative to the UN.

The resolution would allow the flags of Occupied Palestine to be hoisted alongside those of the member states.

If adopted, the UN would have 20 days to implement the move, which would be in time for a visit by Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas on September 30.

Mansour said the initiative had the potential to "give our people some hope that the international community is still supporting the independence of the state of Palestine.

"Things are bleak, gloomy, the political process is dead, Gaza is being suffocated. This flag resolution is like the small light of a candle to keep hope alive for the Palestinian people."

Diplomats says the only unknown is how broad support for the resolution will be, and in particular the attitude of the Europeans who have been divided over the initiative.

Both the apartheid regime in "Israel" and the United States have expressed strong opposition, with "Israel's" ambassador to the body Ron Prosor slamming "a blatant attempt to hijack the UN"

He had asked UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly president Ron Kutesa to block the move, which would break with the UN practice of flying only the flags of member states.

The General Assembly upgraded the status of the Palestinians to that of non-member observer state in 2012.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team