UNESCO RECOGNISED PALESTINE IN 2011
In 2011, with peace talks at a standstill, the Palestinians decided to push ahead with a campaign for full UN membership for the “state of Palestine”.
The quest failed but, in a groundbreaking move on October 31 of that year, the UN cultural agency UNESCO voted to accept the Palestinians as a full member.
The decision triggered a furious reaction from Israel and the United States, which suspended their funding to the Paris-based body.
They quit UNESCO outright in 2018, although the United States rejoined last year.
In November 2012, the Palestinian flag was raised for the first time at the United Nations in New York after the General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to upgrade the status of the Palestinians to a “non-member observer state”.
Three years later, the International Criminal Court also accepted Palestine as a state party.
