Palestine became a "nonmember state" at the United Nations on Nov. 29. The draft of the U.N. resolution beckoning what many perceive as a historic moment passed by a huge majority of General Assembly members: 138-9, with 41 abstentions.
It was accompanied by a passionate speech delivered by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. But decades earlier, a more impressive and animated Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, sought international solidarity as well. The occasion then was also termed "historic."
Empowered by Arab support at the Rabat Arab League summit in October 1974, which bestowed on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) the ever-opaque title "the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people," Arafat was invited to speak at the U.N. General Assembly.