From:
Latin America Deepens Israel Isolation
(Inter Press Service) -- by Pierre Klochendler --
JERUSALEM – Guyana became Thursday the seventh Latin American state to recognize an independent Palestinian state. Although the official recognitions are largely nominal, they have irked the state of Israel as they expose its growing diplomatic isolation in the face of the current peace deadlock.
It was the announcement in support of Palestinian statehood by Brazil on Dec. 3 that inspired other countries in the continent to follow suit. Since then, Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and now Guyana, have all offered such recognition.
Paraguay and Peru are expected to do so soon. Venezuela had already recognized Palestine in the mid-2000s.
Israeli officials fear a “domino effect.”
Recently, Norway upgraded the Palestinian representative office in Oslo from a “general delegation” to a “diplomatic delegation.” And over the past four months, several countries, including none other than the U.S. (followed by other Israel-friendly states such as France, Spain, and Portugal) upgraded the standing of Palestinian representatives.
Another hundred or so other countries – most of them developing nations – had recognized Palestine after Yasser Arafat unilaterally declared independence in 1988.
Other states, mostly from the former Eastern Bloc, recognized Palestinian statehood in the wake of the 1993 Oslo peace accords.
At first, when the new string of recognitions began last month, Israel expressed “regret,” “sadness,” and “disappointment.”
A Foreign Ministry statement called such moves “counterproductive” and “damaging” to peace, arguing that “to decide in advance in a unilateral manner about important issues which are disputed, only harms trust between the sides, and hurts their commitment to the agreed framework of negotiating towards peace.”
Then, when Chile made the move to recognize Palestine, Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon wrote bluntly in his personal blog, “‘The state of Facebook’ is more real than ‘Palestine.’”
Much like the global social network, the Palestinian Authority is looking for “virtual friends” in an effort to create “a virtual state,” Ayalon argued.
“Facebook is the ‘like’ state, and so is the Palestinian state recognized in Brasilia and Buenos Aires,” he said, referring to the announcements made by Brazil and Argentina.
“Irresponsible governments are quick to ‘like’ the Palestinian state without actually checking out its profile: an authority without sovereignty, with no borders or territorial continuity, no economic ability or democratic culture,” he added...
Yet, besides sarcastic diatribes, Israel has had an increasingly difficult time coordinating a clear strategy with its U.S. ally against what it sees as a double-barrelled challenge.
On one hand, more and more states are willing to recognize a future Palestinian state with or without Israel’s approval; on the other, Israel faces proportionately increasing diplomatic isolation...MORE...LINK
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