"State of Palestine" Term to be Included on Official Documents

[Syrian Lion]

"State of Palestine" Term to be Included on Official Documents
​

The first Palestinian postage stamp carrying the name “State of Palestine” was issued as the first step toward sovereignty after the status of Palestine at the United Nations was upgraded, a Palestinian official said Tuesday.
Wednesday 9th January, following the recognition of the Palestinian state at the UN, the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree giving instructions to the government to start using the term "State of Palestine" instead of the term "Palestinian National Authority" on all official documents including passports, identity cards, population registration, driving licenses and other documents.

The Ministry of Information confirmed it will include the term "State of Palestine" on all its official papers, including press cards and licenses, as requested in the presidential decree on this regard, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

The Ministry called on all Palestinian media outlets to start using the new term in all their programs.

Safa Nassereddin, Minister of Communication, said the first stamp to carry the name "State of Palestine" will be issued for the benefit of Palestinian diplomatic offices abroad.

Nassereddin also said that because issuing new stamps requires Israeli approval to print them and bring them into the country, it was decided that the new stamps will be printed in Bahrain, which has contributed to the cost of printing them, and will be used abroad.

She revealed that the cost of printing new stamps is relatively high and because there are no special stamp printing machines in Palestine, the stamps have to be printed abroad.

The stamps will be used on certain forms at Palestinian diplomatic offices around the world

"State of Palestine" Term to be Included on Official Documents

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First postage stamp with “State of Palestine” issued
​

Last week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree to change the name of Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to ” State of Palestine” on all official stamps, stationery, documents, identity cards, driving licenses, passports and official letterheads.

It is the first official step taken by the PNA toward statehood since the United Nations granted Palestine a non-member observer state status in November 2012.

“The new stamp will be used by Palestinian diplomatic organs across the world,” Palestinian minister of telecommunication, Safaa Nasser al-Deen, told Xinhua.

“Using ‘State of Palestine’ on our postage stamps is the true meaning of sovereignty,” the minister said, adding that the stamps cannot be used inside the Palestinian territories due to an Israeli ban.

First postage stamp with “State of Palestine” issued - NZweek