It comes as no
surprise that
Guyana yesterday
declared
official
recognition of
a Palestinian
State within the
1967 borders.
In a news
release the
Foreign Ministry
said, “It is
Guyana's hope
that the
increasing
recognition of
the state of
Palestine will
contribute to a
resolution of
the
Israeli-Palestinian
conflict and the
creation of
lasting peace
and stability in
the region.”
Guyana since
1975 has been a
member of the UN
Committee on the
Exercise of the
Inalienable
Rights of the
Palestinian
People, and in
the 1970s
severed diplomat
ties with
Israel. Thus, it
is not
surprising that
the Foreign
Ministry said,
" this decision
is in keeping
with Guyana's
long-standing
and unwavering
solidarity with,
and commitment
to, the just and
legitimate
aspirations of
the people of
Palestine for
the exercise of
their right to
self-determination
and to achieve a
homeland of
their own,
independent,
free, prosperous
and at peace”
that Guyana
recognize
Palestine as a
sovereign state.
Guyana which is
today a member
of the
Organisation of
Islamic
Conference (OIC)
has had strong
ties with the
Arab Islamic
world dating
back to the 1970
after
independence
from Britain in
1966. Guyana
strongly aligned
itself with
Algeria, Egypt,
Iraq, Libya,
Palestine and
Syria. In 1973,
former President
of Guyana, L.F.
Burnham
travelled
together with
Fidel Castro and
Norman Manley to
attend the
Non-Aligned
Movement (NAM)
Summit in
Algeria. After
the summit,
Burnham visited
Egypt, Somalia,
Sierra Leone,
Ivory Coast,
Guinea and
Nigeria.
In June 1985
Guyana indulged
itself deeper
into the
Palestinian
quagmire, when
it hosted the
11th United
Nations Seminar
on the Question
of Palestine
under the
leadership of
former Foreign
Minister,
Rashleigh
Jackson. Jackson
stated that it
is, "the overall
coordination of
the strategies
of the supports
of the
Palestinian
cause all over
the world."
Prior to that,
in January
1976, Rashleigh
Jackson during
the Security
Council debate
on the Arab
Israeli
conflict,
suggested that
UN Resolutions
242 and 338
should be
updated to take
into account the
rights of the
Palestinians and
that the
Palestinian
Liberation
Organization
(PLO) should be
fully involved
in the process
of securing
peace.
Suriname,
another South
American
country, is
expected to
recognize
Palestine within
the coming
days. Suriname
is also a member
of the OIC.