The Palestinian people have officially launched their campaign to join the United Nations as a full member state, saying they will stage a series of peaceful events in the runup to the annual gathering of the UN general assembly this month. Some 100 Palestinian officials and activists gathered at the UN offices in Ramallah for a short ceremony, where they announced their plans in a letter addressed to the secretary general, Ban Ki-moon. The letter urges Ban to add his "moral voice in support of the Palestinian people". "Families of the tens of thousands of victims of Israeli occupation, including those martyred, wounded and imprisoned, and countless others who were expelled from their homes or lost their homes and their property, hope that you will exert all possible efforts toward the achievement of the Palestinian people's just demands," it says.