Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum officially recognized Nadya Rasheed as the Palestinian Ambassador to Mexico at a ceremony held at the National Palace on Wednesday, during which the president welcomed 23 new ambassadors to Mexico from around the world.
Sheinbaum and the Palestinian Embassy shared a photo of the two officials together on social media.
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“Adding to the significance of this [ceremony is a highly symbolic event: a Palestinian woman, an ambassador of her people, presenting her credentials to the first female President of Mexico. A reflection of the fundamental role of women in our societies and in building a more just future,” Palestine’s Embassy in Mexico wrote in a post on Instagram.
Sheinbaum, who is Mexico’s first president of Jewish origin, has stated on several occasions that she supports a two-state solution for the people of Israel and Palestine.
Who is Nadya Rasheed?
Nadya Rasheed began her career as a diplomat in her role as a human rights expert at the Permanent Mission of Palestine to the United Nations (UN) after receiving a master’s degree in 2007 from Columbia University in New York City.
In 2021, Rasheed was appointed ambassador to Uruguay, where she learned Spanish.
Rasheed is the second woman to represent the state of Palestine in Mexico, and the first to bear the official title of embajadora of the recently established Palestinian Embassy in Mexico City.
History of the Palestinian Embassy in Mexico
Mexico has supported several United Nations resolutions to provide greater rights to the Palestinian people in recent decades, including Assembly Resolution 67/19 (2012), which recognized Palestine as a “non-member Observer State of the United Nations.”
In 2005, Mexico’s government established a Representative Office of the Palestinian National Authority in Ramallah, West Bank, deepening ties between the two nations.
In 2011, Mexico welcomed Randa Al Nabulsi as the first special Palestinian delegate to Mexico. At this time, Mexico had not yet recognized Palestine’s state status.
Former special delegate from Palestine to Mexico Randa Al Nabulsi speaking at Matehuala University in San Luis Potosí in 2011.
In June 2023, the government of former Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) reclassified Palestine’s diplomatic mission in Mexico, from a “special delegation” to “embassy.” Mohamed Saadat was named as its first head.
President Sheinbaum announced the Mexican government’s formal recognition of the state of Palestine in a press conference last Oct. 11.
“We condemn the aggression being endured by the Palestinian people, and we firmly believe that Palestine, like Israel, must be recognized in its full sovereignty. This has been Mexico’s longstanding position, and it remains unchanged,” Sheinbaum stated in the press conference.
Current relations between Palestine and Mexico
Sheinbaum’s welcoming of Rasheed coincided with Israel’s renewed military campaign in Gaza, following several weeks of ceasefire.
Mexico has remained neutral regarding the war in Gaza. However, in May 2024, the Mexican government joined the complaint filed against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), after South Africa filed a complaint alleging possible acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Over 50,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched ground operations in Gaza in October 2023, the majority of which are women and children, Palestine’s health ministry reported on Sunday.
With reports from El Financiaro, The New Arab, La Jornada, CNN and Jacobin
