The flag of the Palestinian Authority was raised at the United Nations in New York City on Wednesday for the first time. The event came after years of controversy and debate over the issue.

See also: European Parliament supports state of Palestine in principle

The historic moment followed an address at the United Nations' General Assembly by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who honored "the martyrs, the prisoners and the wounded, and to those who gave their lives while trying to raise this flag."

The Palestinian Authority is not an official member of the United Nations — it has had nonmember observer status at the U.N. since 2012 — but its members voted to approve raising the flag in early September by a 119-8 vote (with 45 abstentions).

The eight countries that voted against the move were led by the United States and Israel and joined by Australia, Canada, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, and Tuvalu.

U.S. ambassador Samantha Power told the Wall Street Journal at the time that the "No" vote by the U.S. was "not a rejection of Palestinians' aspirations for statehood" but that “raising the Palestinian flag is not an alternative to negotiations and will not bring parties closer to peace.”

Raising of the Palestinian flag #Palestine #PalestinianFlag at the #UnitedNations #UN A photo posted by lisa@12 (@lisahz12) on Sep 30, 2015 at 10:42am PDT

Abbas, who was widely rumored to be dropping a "bombshell" at his speech, ultimately declared before world leaders that he is no longer bound by agreements signed with Israel, including the Oslo Peace Accords, and called on the United Nations to provide international protection for the Palestinian people.

"As long as Israel refuses to cease settlement activities and to the release of the fourth group of Palestinian prisoners in accordance with our agreements, they leave us no choice but to insist that we will not remain the only ones committed to the implementation of these agreements, while Israel continuously violates them," Abbas said.

"We therefore declare that we cannot continue to be bound by these agreements and that Israel must assume all of its responsibilities as an occupying power," he declared.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the speech and flag raising weren't without criticism.

Abbas speech was the worst of both worlds: Offered nothing tangible to Palestinians, while handing Israelis something to bash him with. — Matt Duss (@mattduss) September 30, 2015

US opposed resolution to raise Palestinian flag at UN, but remains in favor of 2 state solution, @PressSec says — lesley clark (@lesleyclark) September 30, 2015

On Tuesday, an editorial by Abbas appeared on The Huffington Post, in which he said, "On the vote to raise our flag at the U.N., the international community demonstrated its solidarity with the Palestinian people."

"Now it must act with urgency to seize the momentum from this symbolic gesture and provide a clear plan to end the illegal Israeli occupation, uphold human rights and achieve justice," said Abbas.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press