The United Nations General Assembly voted Thursday, by an impressive margin, to upgrade Palestine from its status as an “Observer Entity” to an “Observer State,” a change greeted by celebration in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and with an unusual display of emotion at U.N. Headquarters — a Palestinian flag unfurled on the Assembly floor.
But what exactly did the Palestinians really gain at the world body? The resolution referred to the “right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to independence in their State of Palestine.”
So, is Palestine now a State?