Brazil and the Middle East
Brazil has recognized the Palestinian state, based on the borders right before the 1967 Six Day War. A quick search suggests that in Latin America only Cuba and Nicaragua recognize the Palestinian state (though I am happy to be corrected if that is wrong).
This is all part of Brazil's (and especially Lula's) effort to be a player in the Middle East. The last effort (with Turkey) did not work out so well, but Brazil is placing itself in counterpoint to the United States because it wants to mediate but from a more pro-Palestinian perspective. At the very least, whatever one thinks of it, Brazil is harder and harder to ignore in the Middle East.
Aside from the diplomatic questions, there is also the unknown of whether Dilma Rousseff has the same level of interest as Lula in the Middle East.
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Uruguay made a similar announcement about three weeks ago.
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/11/15/uruguay-formalizes-relation-with-palestine-and-plans-representation-in-ramallah
Brazil also has the largest population of Arabic ancestry outside the Middle East. My wife's hometown in Minas Gerais has a Libano-Brasileiro social club.
Curitiba in Paraná has a monument to Arabic immigrants. Even the guy who introduced me to my wife is from Rio Grande do Sul and has the last name Sharif.
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