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"Palestine" at the UN: The Vote

"Palestine" at the UN: Fact Sheet | Text of Palestine Application

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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:

Yes (138)
No (9)
Abstain (41)
Afghanistan
Algeria
Angola
Antigua & Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Comoros
Congo
Costa Rica
Côte d’Ivoire
Cuba
Cyprus
Denmark

Canada

Czech Republic

Israel

Marshall Islands

Micronesia

Nauru

Palau

Panama

United States


Albania

Andorra

Australia

Bahamas

Barbados

Bosnia

Bulgaria

Cameroon

Colombia

Croatia

DR of Congo

Estonia

Fiji

Germany

Guatemala

Haiti

Hungary

Latvia

Lithuania

Malawi

Monaco

Absent (5)

Equatorial Guinea

Kiribati

Liberia

Madagascar

Ukraine

Sources:United Nations