Jessica Cheung

And what we've seen recently is a push by a number of Western countries like the U.K., France, Australia, and Canada to formally recognize the Palestinian state as a way to put pressure on Israel to end the war.

Now, up until this point, over 140 countries had already done this.

But what's interesting about this new group of countries is that they're traditionally Israeli allies.

That infuriates Israel and the U.S., who say what this is going to do is reward Hamas for its terrorism on October 7th.

But regardless, 10 countries were planning to come to the U.N.

General Assembly last week to stand up and say for the first time, we recognize the Palestinian state.

So it was going to be a huge moment, and I wanted to capture that.

Particularly through the eyes of this one guy, Riyad Mansour.

It was a pleasure to meet you, Ambassador.

Mansour is the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, and he's worked toward this moment for pretty much his entire life.

Yes.

I meet him in the gardens of the U.N.

in midtown Manhattan.

This was all before the big meeting was set to take place.

He's dressed in a suit.

He's got a small Palestinian flag pinned on his lapel.

And how long have you been serving in this role?

20 years straight.

Mansour is in his late 70s, and he's been representing Palestinians here for decades.

How does it feel to have these countries now on board?