On Monday we looked at the decision made by several Latin American states to formally recognize a Palestinian state. "Israeli and U.S. officials who already critiqued Brazil’s move will likely condemn Argentina’s decision," we wrote in that post. As was noted in BBC News on Tuesday our assumption was not a bad guess:Israel has reacted angrily to Argentina's recognition of a Palestinian state within 1967 borders...Costa Rica, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela along with roughly 100 other countries have previously recognized a Palestinian state. Aside from the announcements made in recent days by Brazil and Argentina, Uruguayan officials said that they will officially recognize Palestine next year.
Israel Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the moves were irresponsible."They never made any contribution to [the peace process]... and now they're making a decision that is completely contrary to everything that has been agreed so far," he said.
It remains to be seen if other Latin American countries will also engage in this "recognition diplomacy" regarding Palestine. An estimated 500,000 people of Palestinian background reside in Chile while El Salvador and Honduras allegedly have "substantial Palestinian populations."
Image - Abbas Momani/AFP/Getty Images/Newscom via CSMonitor.com ("Palestinians walk past the Brazilian (r.) and the Argentinean (l.) flags hanging on a shop in the center of the West Bank city of Ramallah on Dec. 7. Argentina is the latest in Latin America to recognize an independent Palestinian state, just days after Brazil.") Online Sources - CSMonitor.com, The Latin Americanist, BBC News, Foreign Policy Passport
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