The United Nations General Assembly is set to adopt a resolution next week that will allow the Palestinian flag to be raised at the UN. Since its founding in 1945, it has been a tradition that only flags of member states are displayed at UN headquarters and offices, so the fact that the flag of Palestine, which has non-member observer status, will fly says a lot about how far Palestine has come in its quest to become a sovereign nation. While the gesture may be symbolic, it is another small but significant step showing that the international community is still supporting Palestine's independence. The body will vote on Sep. 10 on the measure, predicted to garner enough support for easy passage. Since the General Assembly upgraded the status of Palestine to that of a non-member observer state in 2012, it will more than likely approve that the Palestinian flag flutters outside the iconic building in Manhattan alongside the flags of the 193 member states. Needless to say, Israel vehemently attacked the upcoming step, accusing the Palestinians of trying to "score easy and meaningless points at the UN” and of not allowing UN member states “to debate, discuss or reflect on the consequences and implications of this proposal”. The UN is breaking with tradition because tradition has got the Palestinians nowhere. Israel would want the UN to debate the issue for years, maybe decades, as long as the age of the conflict itself. Fortunately, although Israel has asked UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to block the move, the UN says Ban will abide by whatever decision the General Assembly takes. The GA will make the right decision – and it will not be meaningless. The Vatican's request to be taken off a UN General Assembly draft resolution prepared by Palestinian diplomats and calling for the flags of Palestine and the Holy See to be flown at New York headquarters should not be construed as Vatican rejection of a Palestinian state. In May, the Vatican officially recognized the state of Palestine in their first formal, bilateral treaty. Last year the Vatican referred to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as the “president of the state of Palestine”. And in 2012, the Vatican welcomed the overwhelming vote in the General Assembly to upgrade Palestine to the status to a UN non-member observer state. The Vatican's request not to cosponsor the Palestinian draft might mean it would rather table a motion itself rather than have someone else do it for them. This would not be the first time the Palestinian tricolor has been raised at the UN. The Palestinian flag was raised at UNESCO's headquarters to mark the admission of Palestine to the organization, the first UN agency to admit Palestine as a full member. Moreover, the flag was unfurled in Washington, Israel's closest ally, when the PLO diplomatic mission raised the Palestinian flag over its building for the first time. The PLO office received permission from the State Department to fly the flag in 2011 when the mission was upgraded from a representative office to a general delegation. Most important, the Palestinian flag is raised now wherever there are official Israeli-Palestinian meetings. This is a far cry from the days immediately following the 1967 war when Israel banned the Palestinian flag in the occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank. Since the signing of the Oslo peace accords in 1993, the ban has rightfully been abolished. Abbas is scheduled to visit the UN in New York on Sep. 30, in time for the UN to execute its decision. It will be another landmark moment in the Palestinian struggle for statehood.
