Palestinian-Portuguese relations

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Palestinian-Portuguese relations
Palestinian-Portuguese Relations (Europe)
Portugal
Portugal
Palestinian Territories
Palestinian Territories
PortugalPortugal Palastina autonomous areasPalestine
Portugal Palestinian Territories

The Palestinian-Portuguese relations include the relationship between the Palestinian territories and Portugal . They have had direct diplomatic relations since 1999.

The official relations are comparatively good, but not very intensive and also restricted by the good Israeli-Portuguese relations .

In 2016, 73 Palestinians were registered in Portugal, with 31 most of them in the Lisbon district .

history

From the Roman Empire to the end of the British Mandate

Both countries were once part of the Roman Empire , today's Portugal from 206 BC. BC, today's Palestine from 63 BC. Both later became part of the Arab Empire : Palestine came under Arab rule from 636 AD , Portugal from 711.

Assembly of the League of Nations 1920

The genesis of Portugal is closely linked to the crusaders who stopped here from the 11th century on their way to the " Holy Land " in today's Palestine and the Reconquista and thus the emergence of the Christian kingdom of Portugal with the expulsion of the Arabs drove. The Kingdom of Jerusalem , which was then founded by the Crusaders, partly existed on the territory of the present-day Palestinian Autonomous Territories, partly they remained Arabic, and from 1516 Ottoman . Christian pilgrims traveled to the Holy Land then as now, including from Portugal.

After the end of the First World War in 1918 and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, the League of Nations transferred the mandate over Palestine to Great Britain after 1920. Portugal also agreed to the necessary League of Nations mandate for Palestine . The mandate also provided for increasing Jewish immigration and thus laid the foundation for the later State of Israel .

Since the founding of Israel in 1948

After ever more hopeless conflicts between Arabs and Jews, a UN partition plan followed at the end of 1947, which, together with the Israeli declaration of independence , triggered the Palestinian War in May 1948 . The following UN General Assembly Resolution 194 at the end of 1948 was passed without Portugal's vote, as Portugal u. a. was not a member of the UN until 1955 due to its colonial policy . However, the resolution was largely ignored, so that the unresolved Palestinian refugee problem has since determined the situation in Palestine.

Palestinian leader Arafat in the exile government seat in Tunis in 1989

The 1967 Six Day War , in which Arab states attacked Israel and ultimately lost, was followed by UN Security Council Resolution 242 , which was passed unanimously but did not provide a solution for Palestine. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) partially radicalized itself in the following years and committed international terrorist attacks, but in 1974 it was recognized as the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and received observer status in the UN General Assembly . Portugal also voted in favor after the country ended its colonial dictatorship with the left-wing Carnation Revolution in 1974.

Thereafter, the Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation determined the situation. After the outbreak of the First Intifada in 1987, the State of Palestine was proclaimed in 1988 , which was recognized by a number of states, but not by most European states and the most important industrialized nations. Portugal also did not declare recognition of Palestine .

In 2014, the Portuguese parliament recommended that the government recognize the State of Palestine

After the Madrid Conference in 1991 and the Gaza-Jericho Agreement in 1994, the Palestinian Authority was established. In 1999 the Portuguese government decided to open a representative office in the Palestinian Territories.

At the latest with the Second Intifada 2000, the situation in Palestine escalated again. The Israeli protective wall that was erected afterwards was also criticized by the Portuguese public, but not emphatically by the Portuguese government, which traditionally did not position itself strongly on the Palestinian question.

In 2012 Portugal was one of 138 supporters of the recognition of Palestine as an observer state in the UN ( UN resolution 67/19 ).

In 2014, the Portuguese Parliament spoke out in favor of full recognition of the State of Palestine, which, however, has not yet been implemented by any Portuguese government.

diplomacy

Portugal maintains a representative office at the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah , in the Everest Building on Omar Mukhtar Street near the presidential headquarters.

The Palestinian Authority has a mission in Lisbon, at number 25 on Rua Pêro e Alenquer in the Belém district of Lisbon .

City friendships

So far there are two city ​​friendships between Palestinian and Portuguese municipalities (as of 2017):

Non-governmental initiatives

Various civil society associations and groups in Portugal maintain contacts with the Palestinian autonomous territories.

The Portuguese aid organization Assistência Médica Internacional carried out several medical aid operations in emergency situations in Palestine.

The friendship association Associação dos Amigos do Teatro da Liberdade da Palestina - Portugal was founded in 2015 and supports the ambitious Palestinian-Israeli theater project The Freedom Theater in the Palestinian Autonomous Territories, while the Palestinian-Portuguese friendship association Palestine in Portugal is much more combative.

At the annual Festa do Avante! , the three-day cultural festival of the Portuguese Communist Party , guests from the Palestinian Autonomous Territories are always guests, with the Portuguese Communists traditionally showing solidarity with their struggle for independence.

economy

Rice fields in Alqueidão in central Portugal: in 2016 rice accounted for 18.4% of Portugal's exports to the Palestinian Territories

The Portuguese Chamber of Commerce AICEP does not have a contact point in Palestine, the office at the Portuguese Embassy in Tel Aviv is responsible .

In 2016, Portugal exported goods and services worth EUR 0.370 million to Palestine ( 2015 : 0.353 million; 2014 : 0.605 million; 2013 : 0.602 million; 2012 : 0.097 million), of which 34.2% was food, 23.7% chemical-pharmaceutical products, 19.1% wood and cork and 18.4% agricultural products.

In the same period, the Palestinian Territories supplied goods and services worth EUR 0.316 million to Portugal ( 2015 : 0.019 million; 2014 : 0.006 million; 2013 : 0.037 million; 2012 : 0.002 million), almost exclusively machines and equipment including metal goods.

In terms of Portuguese foreign trade, Palestine was 179th as a buyer and 152nd as a supplier, and in Palestinian foreign trade, Portugal ranks 36th as a buyer and 40th as a supplier.

Sports

Football is the most popular sport in both countries. The Palestinian national soccer team and the Portuguese national team have not yet met (as of December 2017).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Overview of diplomatic relations with Palestine at the Diplomatic Institute in the Portuguese Foreign Ministry , accessed on May 4, 2019
  2. ↑ Official Portuguese Aliens Statistics by District , Portuguese Aliens and Borders Authority SEF, accessed on February 16, 2018
  3. ↑ Portugal's Parliament Calls for Recognition of Palestinian State , article of December 13, 2014 in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz , accessed on February 16, 2018
  4. ↑ Contact details for Palestine and Israel in the travel advice of the Portuguese Foreign Ministry (Portuguese, under Informações úteis ), accessed on January 1, 2018
  5. ↑ Overview of the Palestinian-Portuguese town twinning , website of the umbrella organization of the Portuguese district administrations, ANMP, accessed on January 1, 2018
  6. ^ Alfredo Cunha (photos), Luís Pedro Nunes (text): Toda a Esperança do Mundo. , Porto Editora , Porto 2015 ( ISBN 978-972-004780-9 ), p. 304
  7. ↑ Website on the Portuguese group within the The Freedom Theater project , accessed on February 16, 2018
  8. ^ Page of the Palestina em Portugal association on Facebook , accessed on February 16, 2018
  9. ↑ a b c Bilateral economic relations between Portugal and Palestine , Excel file retrieved from the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce AICEP, accessed on February 16, 2018