Palestinians' UN quest

Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas plans to submit his bid to upgrade the status of Palestine at the United Nations on Thursday. Both the Palestinians and the rest of the world will be watching with great anticipation as the UN General Assembly is set to vote on the bid on Thursday afternoon.

Acceptance of Palestine as a non-member state would imply the world body's recognition of Palestinian statehood and draw Palestine one step closer to its two-state resolution. This would in turn contribute to the Middle East peace process and a political resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Given that the majority of the world's countries have sympathized with the Palestinians' long, unswerving pursuit of a sovereign state, and that only a simple majority in the UN General Assembly is needed for the passage of the Palestinian bid, the chances of it being granted non-member status, up from its current status as an observer "entity", loom large.