UN Overwhelmingly Votes For Palestinian Statehood

Symbolic

United Nations member countries voted overwhelmingly to change the Palestinian status from an observer to a non-member observer state yesterday, but how this will play out in terms of Israeli-Palestinian relations, and prospects for peace, is still an open question.

Held on the 65th anniversary of the "birth" of Israel – when the UN voted to partition the British mandate ofPalestine into one Jewish state and one Arab state – there is no question that yesterday's vote was symbolic for Palestinians and their supporters, according to The New York Times. The vote passed 138 to 9, with 41 states abstaining.