Brazil to Host First Palestinian Embassy in Western Hemisphere
Foresaking the status of the stalled negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Brazil recognized the State of Palestine a few weeks ago. Brazil's move, which echoed that of Venezuela's and which was followed by similar moves from Argentina, Bolivia, and Ecuador, was labelled premature by the United States and was met with consternation in Israel. On December 31, as one of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in one of his last acts as President of Brazil, took the matter a step further by meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of Palestine, and laying down the cornerstone for the future Embassy of Palestine. Abbas also attended the swearing-in ceremony of new Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Saturday. Lula, who angered many earlier this year when he met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to discuss Iran's nuclear program, agreed to recognize Palestine and to lay down the cornerstone of the new embassy in order to demonstrate Brazil's growing international clout and to help Palestine in its efforts to win independence from Israel. Brazil recognized Palestine's pre-1967 borders, an issue that is very contentious for Israel.