A Palestinian boy at rally in Ramallah in support of Abbas's bid for UN recognition of an independent Palestine. Photograph: Darren Whiteside/Reuters

What would Palestinian statehood mean?

Mahmoud Abbas's appeal to the UN to recognise Palestine has dominated the agenda. What are its implications?

Harriet Sherwood

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 21 September 2011

World leaders gathering in New York for the United Nations general assembly are convulsed by the call to effectively recognise an independent state of Palestine.

Why are the Palestinians doing this?

Frustrated after years of negotiations, which have gone nowhere, and alarmed by Israel's ever-expanding settlements on land that is expected to be part of their future state, the Palestinian leadership has decided to appeal to the international community as a way of breaking the deadlock....READ MORE