On the flipside, 138 supported Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' appeal to the UN General Assembly, and 41 countries, of which 21 are European, abstained.
Related Stories:
- US: Resolution did not create Palestinian state
- General Assembly recognizes Palestine as observer state
- Op-ed: Credit goes to Netanyahu
The headline of the world's most important newspaper, The New York Times, read: "UN Assembly, in blow to US, elevates status of Palestine". The Times clarified that "the vote, at least for now, did little to bring either the Palestinians or the Israelis closer to the goal they claim to seek: Two states living side by side, or increased Palestinian unity."
UN General Assembly (Photo: AP)
The newspaper also said that the new status wwould provide the Palestinians with new tools for contending in the international arena, and thereby, the ability to turn to the international court.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was quoted in the Times as saying, “The question is, where do we go from here and what does it mean?" Fayyad, who arrived in New York for the vote, said in the interview that nothing would change without deep, American intervention.
Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian politician and a member of the Palestinian "Day After" committee, said that "occupied Palestine" was likely to turn to The Hague in the future.
British newspapers emphasized the vast majority reaped by the Palestinians in the UN General Assembly but did not grant the headline to this dramatic development.
The Guardian wrote, "UN general assembly makes resounding vote in favor of Palestinian statehood."
The title of the BBC article on the subject was: "Palestinians win upgraded UN status by wide margin."
'I want to cry, we have a state'
The British Telegraph, like the New York Times, referred to the fact that only seven countries voted alongside Israel and the United States. "UN defies US to recognize sovereign state of Palestine," was their title.
Seven countries vote with US and Israel (Photo: Reuters)
The article also included voices from the rejoicing West Bank city of Ramallah. Eight-year-old Haleh Riyan and her six-year-old brother Muhammad were among the many children who arrived at the Yasser Arafat Square with faces painted in Palestinian colors.
Their mother, Shereen, 29, did not conceal her pride: "I want to cry. For the first time, we have a state. We need to tell our sons and daughters that we have a country named Palestine. I believe that the future will be rosy – two states, Palestine and Israel, living side by side in peace."
In a commentary on the Telegraph's main article, David Blair wrote that the upgrade in the Palestinian status "won't resolve core issues."
He mentioned the date chosen by Abbas, saying: "This is all the sweeter because of the timing – on the 65th anniversary of the UN resolution of November 29, 1947 that partitioned the Holy Land between Jewish and Arab states, paving the way for Israel's birth."