Palestinian Flag Raised at United Nations for First Time

The Palestinian flag was raised outside the United Nations headquarters in New York for the first time. The General Assembly voted 119-8 on Sept. 10 to allow the Palestinian flag at headquarters. Israel and the United States were among the dissenters, along with Canada and Australia. Abbas dedicated Wednesday’s ceremony to “the martyrs, the prisoners and the wounded, and to those who gave their lives while trying to raise this flag,” Al Jazeera reported. Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in Yasser Arafat Square in the West Bank city of Ramallah to watch a live broadcast of the ceremony on a large screen.