Irsrael opposes Palestinian flag-raising at the UN

Israel has expressed strong opposition to a draft resolution that would allow the Palestinian flag to be raised at the United Nations ahead of the annual gathering of world leaders later this month.

Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor appealed to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Sam Kutesa, the General Assembly's president, to block the move, which would break with the UN practice of flying only the flags of member states.

Prosor said in a letter to the UN leaders that the Palestinian move was an attempt to "score easy and meaningless points at the UN" and that this was "not the path to statehood, this is not the way for peace."

A draft resolution was presented last week to the General Assembly requesting that the flags of Palestine and the Holy See be hoisted alongside those of the 193 member states.

Both the Vatican and Palestine have non-member observer status at the United Nations.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Permanent Observer at the UN Ambassador Riyadh Mansour said an agreement has been reached with UN General Assembly chief to vote on a draft resolution to allow raising the Palestinian flag on September 10.

He termed the move as an important step on the way of achieving Palestinian independence as the UN would witness a historic event of raising the flags of observer countries at the premises for the first time since its foundation.
Source: MENA