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"Palestine" at the United Nations:
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On November 29, 2012, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas raised a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly to change the status of "Palestine" in the international body from permanent observer to non-member observer state.
The vote - which passed with a majority 138 for, 9 against, and 41 abstentions - amounted to a symbolic victory in the Palestinian quest for statehood. Abbas believes that the resolution "is the first step to achieve all our national Palestinian rights," however many leaders - including US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - maintain that the vote signifies a step backwards in the peace process and that nothing can substitute face-to-face negotiations.
Here is the the vote broke down:
Sources: United Nations
