For the first time, and over Israel's firm objections, the United Nations is holding an event to commemorate what the Palestinians call Nakba, or catastrophe.
It is 75 years since Nabka, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from or fled from their homes following the UN partition of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states.
Including their descendants, it is estimated that there are now five million Palestinian refugees across the Middle East today.
The United Nations has once again found itself at the centre of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The Israeli Mission has called the event "antisemitic" and "despicable".
Urging a boycott, it sent a video message to UN diplomats ahead of the General Assembly session.
"The Palestinians will hold a shameful event here commemorating the establishment of Israel as the catastrophe, the Nakba, instead of commemorating the real Nakba, the expulsion of almost a million Jews from Arab countries following the establishment of Israel," the Israeli envoy to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said.
"This biased organisation is distorting its own history."
The ambassador warned member states that they were destroying the chance of peace in the Middle East by attending the event and supposedly adopting the Palestinian narrative.
The event was voted for in a General Assembly resolution last November. Some 90 countries voted in favour with 30 against.
The opposing members included Israel’s strongest supporter at the UN, the United States, as well as the UK and Canada.
While Ireland attended today's meeting, it was among 47 member states that abstained from the vote.
The head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, addressed the General Assembly this morning and delivered a blistering attack on the UN for failing to deliver on its promises of a two-state solution or resolve the 75-year old displacement of Palestinian refugees.
He said the United States and Britain bore the most responsibility for the situation.
Mr Abbas accused them of "rendering our people a victim when they decided to establish and plant another entity in our historic homeland for their own colonial goals".
"These countries wanted to get rid of their Jews and benefit from their presence in Palestine," he said.
He went on to call for the ejection of Israel from the United Nations.
Palestine participates in the United Nations as a non-member observer state, but it is not recognised by all members states.
Today, the Palestinian leader called on UN countries to recognise Palestine and to make the Nakba commemoration an annual event.
Following the special session of the General Assembly, an evening event will be held at the UN's headquarters in New York.
The event would "bring to life the Palestinian journey and will aim at creating an immersive experience of the Nakba through live music, photos, videos and personal testimonies," according to UN reports.
It comes at a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East. Last week, exchanges of rocket fire between Israeli forces and militants in Gaza led to the deaths of 33 Palestinians and two Israelis.
A fragile ceasefire, brokered by Egypt, appears to be holding.
Israel has seen mounting public protest against the right-wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu.
The government has vowed to curb the power of Israel’s independent judiciary as well as expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Today the UN reaffirmed its commitment to resolving the Palestinian refugee crisis.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Refugee Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees in the Near East, said "the plight of Palestine refugees remains the longest unresolved refugee crisis in the world. More than ever, they require our collective solidarity".
75 years on, the United Nations is still grappling with a crisis that continues to divide member states.
