<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Summit of South American-Arab Countries to Debate Recognition of Palestinian&nbsp;State]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><span class="createdate">Sunday, 09 January 2011 15:24 </span> <span class="createby"> Tania Kepler for the Alternative Information Center (AIC) </span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="newsitem_text">
<div class="news_item_article">
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The  Summit of South American-Arab Countries (ASPA) meeting in Lima, Peru in  February, will debate a proposal “to issue a final declaration  recognizing a sovereign and independent Palestinian state in borders  preceding 4 June 1967, with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian state&#8217;s  capital.”</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><img style="vertical-align:middle;border:3px solid #000000;margin:5px;" src="https://i0.wp.com/alternativenews.org/english/images/stories/news/2011/january_2011/aspa.jpg" alt="aspa" width="600" height="400" /></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Walid Muaqqat, Palestinian ambassador to Argentina, told the <em>Miami Herald</em> that this proposal would be discussed at the ASPA, a mechanism for  bi-regional cooperation and a forum for political coordination between  South American and Arab countries.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Organizers  say the February summit will be attended by nine South American  leaders, including Brazil&#8217;s new President Dilma Rousseff, and 11 Arab  heads of state.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
This follows the 7 January announcement by Chile which formally recognized the Palestinian state.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">&#8220;The  government of Chile has adopted the resolution today recognising the  existence of the state of Palestine as a free, independent and sovereign  state,&#8221; Alfredo Moreno, the Chilean foreign minister, said on Friday.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">&#8220;Chile  has permanently and consistently supported the right of the Palestinian  people to constitute themselves as an independent state, in peaceful  coexistence with the state of Israel,&#8221; Moreno said.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Chile has a community of more than 300,000 Palestinian immigrants and their descendants, the largest outside the Arab world.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Brazil,  Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador recognized Palestine, within its borders  prior to Israel’s 1967 invasion, during December 2010, and Uruguay and  Paraguay are expected to join them in the coming weeks. Cuba, Venezuela,  Nicaragua and Costa Rica also recognize the Palestinian state.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">“South  American countries are acting every day with greater coordination,”  Eugenio Tuma, a senator in Chile who pushed for the measure said Friday.  “We are demonstrating that South America can play, together, a role in  the great global issues affecting humanity.”</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">&#8220;If  Chile and Mexico follow Argentina and Brazil, it will prompt all the  other Latin American countries to join, because they don&#8217;t want to stay  on the sidelines,&#8221; an Israeli diplomat was quoted as saying two weeks  ago.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">According  to the Jerusalem Post, Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas called the Chilean  president a number of weeks ago and asked him formally recognize the  Palestinian state.</span></span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><br />
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p><a href="http://alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3163-summit-of-south-american-arab-countries-to-debate-recognition-of-palestinian-state">Summit of South American-Arab Countries to Debate Recognition of Palestinian State</a>.</p>
]]></html><thumbnail_url><![CDATA[https://i0.wp.com/alternativenews.org/english/images/stories/news/2011/january_2011/aspa.jpg?fit=440%2C330]]></thumbnail_url><thumbnail_width><![CDATA[]]></thumbnail_width><thumbnail_height><![CDATA[]]></thumbnail_height></oembed>