The Palestinian Authority will be printing its first stamp that will have ‘State of Palestine’ printed on it, said Safa Nassereddin, Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Communication. The stamps will be issued for the benefit of PA diplomatic offices abroad.
According to a report in the PA-based Wafa news agency, Nassereddin said that as issuing new stamps requires Israeli approval, it was decided that the new stamps will be printed in Oriental Press, Bahrain, which has contributed to the cost of printing them, and will be used abroad. Recently, the stamp was officially unveiled at a ceremony held in Palestine.
The PA Communications Ministry said that the cost of printing new stamps is relatively high and because there are no special stamp printing machines within the PA, the stamps have to be printed abroad. The stamps will be used on certain forms at diplomatic offices around the world, according to Wafa.
“The stamp around the world symbolizes the sovereignty of a state, and the stamp simply states that our address is the State of Palestine and that its capital is Jerusalem,” said Nasseredin. She also announced a competition to design a stamp that will perpetuate “the UN’s recognition of the State of Palestine.” The announcement on the stamp follows a series of steps taken by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to officially name the areas he controls “the State of Palestine”.
