Uruguay recognizes Palestinian state

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Fulfilling a pledge made earlier in the year, Uruguay has recognized an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.

The announcement was made to the Palestinian representative to Argentina, Walid Al-Mu'aqat, during a meeting with Uruguay's President José Mujica and his Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis Almagro.

Mujica handed over documents to the representative, which formally recognized a Palestinian state under the UN resolutions 181 issued 29 November 1947, and 3236, issued 1947, and 242, issued in 1967.

The documents also state Uruguay's continued support for a Middle East peace process, and express the hope of the South American nation that Israel and Palestine can live side by side in peace and security.

Uruguay's timing stems fears that the grisly murder of five settlers Friday night, which was promptly blamed on Palestinian militants though no group has claimed the act, would damage Palestinian efforts for international recognition.

The state joins Guyana, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Suriname and Ecuador from south America, which have all recognized a Palestinian state in the last year. Cuba, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Venezuela had recognized a Palestinian state in the 1980s.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=369257

The EU's been blowing a bit hot and cold about recognising a Palestinian state, but when they do get round to doing it, that leaves not very many countries at all that refuse to acknowledge it as a new state...

We'll see about the EU; I'm skeptical for obvious reasons.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Tuesday that European Union recognition of a Palestinian state could be a "possibility that should be kept in mind," according to AFP.

"There's no point recognizing the Palestinian state on our own. It must be done together," AFP quoted Juppe as saying about recognition by EU countries.

"Personally we're not there yet, I think that it's a possibility that should be kept in mind," he said.

As a response to the deadlock in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, a number of countries have started upgrading the diplomatic status of Palestinian representatives in their countries, Denmark being the latest one to do so by upgrading the PA from general delegation to mission.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/france-says-eu-recognition-of-palestinian-state-a-possibility-1.349427

It's really sad that with now the ALP's in power, the attitudes to the US and Israel are similar to that of the Liberals. That's just one of the myriad of things where the Gillard govt is really just Howard-lite....

I don't think Australia will make any such moves anytime soon.

I mean, they're all 'pro-Israel' to varying degrees, but at least the Rudd govt got a bit firm with Israel over the whole faked passport thing. I'm not so sure Gillard would have done the same in that situation...

We have a long and not-so proud history here of following the lead of the US on many things when it comes to foreign policy, so I can't see Australia making a move to recognise Palestine as a state until the US does...

and generally foreign policy wonks are likely to be lukewarm-to-cool on Israel.

Gillard is far from self-confident when it comes to foreign policy and tends towards conservatism, believing that therein lies safety. Hence her stance on Julian Assange, Iraq and AfPak and various other issues, where she has tried to put as little daylight between herself and the coalition as possible.

Additionally, her partner works for a pro-Israel businessman, and she has accepted trips to Israel before becoming PM, so it is altogether unlikely that she would tolerate any suggestion of recognising Palestine.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/gillard-accused-of-soft-line-on-tel-aviv-20100628-zf5c.html

There is a clear schism between herself and Rudd as foreign minister in this regard. Rudd met with Netanyahu recently in a meeting that was described as "businesslike". He also recently declared that Israel's nuclear program should be subject to supervision by the IAEA.

I don't think Gillard will attempt to rein him in. Her attempts at articulating foreign policy are generally quite poor (eg East Timor). Additionally, its probably the case that Rudd's views have more support amongst the foreign policy establishment than Gillard's.

I remember my discomfort at how she got the job being overwhelmed by the excitement of a woman PM, but that didn't take long to fade. She's such a spectacular disappointment, even more so that the sell-out that is Peter Garrett.

I remember reading that article in the Age, though the link you gave doesn't seem to be working....

Anyway, I'm not surprised that anyone who's working on the DFAT side of things would be a bit lukewarmish on Israel. I started to do international relations at the ANU and was planning to get back into DFAT as a grad (I worked there as a Nong for 12 months before making the most stupid move I've ever made and going to work for local govt coz I got offered a longer contract) and what I learnt in ME politics about the conflict and why it continues was a real eye-opener at the time, so anyone who goes into that field would have no illusions at all...

It's recognition by governments that counts.

I could be wrong, but that seems to be how it works. And in the UN it would matter, as at the moment Palestine has Observer status and doesn't have the full membership a state has....