8 diplomatic breakthroughs by Palestine over the years

The Palestinian flag will be raised for the first time at the United Nations Wednesday afternoon, along with the Vatican flag, which President Mahmoud Abbas had said  would be "a most emotional and proud day."

While the raising of the flag is a symbolic move that does little to advance Palestinian statehood on the ground, it follows decades of small victories that have reinforced the Palestinian people's right to autonomy, self-governance and a national identity despite efforts from Israel to deny them those rights.

The PLO was officially recognized as the representative of the Palestinian people, marking the first time that a Palestinian organization was able to officially claim to speak for the people on the international stage. Previously, Palestinian interests were represented by opposing organizations and most international diplomacy on their behalf was advanced by the Arab League and its members.

Quickly after being named the representative of the Palestinian people, the PLO won Observer status at the U.N. This allowed it to participate in debates and the General Assembly, albeit without any voting rights.

More than 80 countries recognized the state of Palestine in the three months after Yasser Arafat announced the formation of the State of Palestine. The new country's declaration of independence was written by famed poet Mahmoud Darwish. Countries that quickly offered diplomatic recognition of the state included Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Decades after the PLO was recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people around the world, the Oslo Accords called for a new organization to be formed to govern Palestinians inside of Palestine. The Palestinian Authority was setup by the legislative council of the PLO to handle internal matters, including security and civil laws, but the PLO remains the official diplomatic representative of the Palestinian people.

A slew of countries – nine in slightly more than a year, mostly South American including Brazil, Bolivia, and Uruguay – recognized Palestine as an independent state, further angering Israel.

After being blocked from membership in the United Nations by the Security Council, Palestine applied for non-member observer state status, which does not require approval from the Security Council. The vote was 139-9 in Palestine's favor, with 41 countries abstaining. The countries that voted to deny Palestine was a state included Israel, Canada, the Czech Republic, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Panama and the U.S.

After officially announcing it recognized the State of Palestine in 2013, Pope Francis announced that the Holy See would sign its first treaty with Palestine during a visit to the country in 2014.

In one of the first major cracks in Israel's diplomatic support in Europe, Sweden became the first Western European nation to recognize the State of Palestine. The move caused tensions with Israel and sparked movements in a number of other major European states toward full recognition. France's lower house of Parliament passed a non-binding resolution calling on the government to recognize Palestine, and similar efforts have been pushed in Britain.

How many more years will the Palestinians have to wait for the full recognition of the State of Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital and the acknowledgement of the right of return for all Palestinian refugees around the world?