–The recent Seventh Latin American Jewish Congress is being cited by Arab diplomats in Brazil as grounds for the opening of a Palestine Liberation Organization office there.
According to information reaching the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, five Arab ambassadors met recently with Brazil’s Foreign Minister Saraiva Guerreiro to lobby for a PLO office, arguing that Jewish leaders used the Congress, held in Sao Paolo Nov. 9-14, as a platform for anti-PLO statements.
After the meeting, a spokesman for the Arab delegation, which included the envoys of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Algeria, Morocco and Pakistan, was quoted in a Brazilian newspaper as saying: “We had been assured that the publicity for the Congress would be minimal. But the Zionist circles attacked the PLO, describing it as a terrorist group.”
The Arab delegates reportedly told the Foreign Minister that in light of Brazil’s previous statements at international forums, there should be on official recognition of the PLO as a representative of the Palestinians, and that the opening of a PLO office would be the final step to “seal” the amity between Brazil and the Arab world.
Rabbi Morton Rosenthal, director of ADL’s Latin American Affairs department, said the Arabs feel a growing frustration in their political relationship with Brazil, a trading partner.
This, Rosenthal said, was underscored when the Arab spokesman stated: “We believe that Brazil should never have been chosen for that type of propaganda (the Jewish Congress), especially when Brazilian cooperation with the Arab world is expanding in different directions.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
