Evolving Relationships: Nicaragua, Israel, and the Palestinians

• Published date: 01 May 2019
• Author: Marshall Yurow
• Date: 01 May 2019
• DOI: 10.1177/0094582X19831697
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X19831697

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES, Issue 226, Vol. 46 No. 3, May 2019, 149–163

DOI: 10.1177/0094582X19831697

© 2019 Latin American Perspectives

149

Evolving Relationships

Nicaragua, Israel, and the Palestinians

by

Marshall Yurow

Nicaragua occupies a special place in the Israeli-Palestinian impact on Latin

America. Israeli–Somoza Dynasty ties and Palestinian-Sandinista ties have been well

documented over the past 35 years. Yet while the facts are available, the interpretations

are still fiercely debated. Both relationships have been portrayed largely in polemical

terms. The Israeli-Somoza relationship was viewed as a pariah-state alliance or a “debt

of honor.” The Sandinista-Palestinian relationship was viewed as a terrorist connection

or brotherhood against a common enemy. Both relationships were seen as static when in

fact, having begun as realpolitik, they evolved over time.

Nicaragua ocupa un lugar especial en cuanto al impacto israelí-palestino en América

Latina. Los lazos israelí-dinastía Somoza y los vínculos palestino-Sandinistas han sido

bien documentados en los últimos 35 años. Sin embargo, aunque los hechos están conoci-

dos, las interpretaciones siguen intensamente debatidas. Ambas relaciones han sido pre-

sentadas en gran medida en términos polémicos. La relación israelí-Somoza fue vista como

una alianza de estados parias o una “deuda de honor.” La relación Sandinista-palestina

fue vista como una conexión terrorista o hermandad contra un enemigo común. Ambas

relaciones se consideraron estáticas cuando, de hecho, comenzando como realpolitik, evo-

lucionaron con el tiempo.

Keywords: Nicaragua, Somoza, Sandinistas, Israelis, Palestinians

Nicaragua occupies a special place in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian

conflict’s impact on Latin America. Few other countries in the region have had

such historical and extensive contacts with Zionists, Israelis, and factions of the

Palestinian movement, and few countries have had these relationships painted

in such polemical colors. The Somoza Dynasty-Israeli relationship has been

portrayed as a connection between pariah states, a “debt of honor,” or an anti-

leftist alliance. The Sandinista-Palestinian relationship has been portrayed as a

terrorist connection, a shared experience against a common enemy, or an anti-

imperialist alliance.

These relationships have been well documented over the past 35 years

through academic research, newspaper and magazine accounts, investigative

journalism, memoirs of principals involved, think tank publications, and offi-

cial government statements. These are the basic facts:

In the 1940s, the Nicaraguan leader Anastasio Somoza García sold Zionist

groups diplomatic cover for arms purchases in their conflict with the Arab

Marshall Yurow has a Master’s degree in international affairs from American University.

831697LAPXXX10.1177/0094582X19831697LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVESYurow / NICARAGUA, ISRAEL, AND THE PALESTINIANS

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