This article analyzes the influence exerted by the Palestinian diaspora in El Salvador and Honduras during recognition process of the Palestinian State by these two countries in 2011. In 1947 the votes of Latin American countries were instrumental in the approval of Resolution 181 of the UN General Assembly which called for the partition of Palestine. From that year, the Middle East conflict would be increasingly regarded as a cold war confrontation with many countries in the region -aligned with the United States- reaffirming their support for the Zionist project. Thus, Israel found in several Latin American countries some of the most fervent and unconditional defenders of Zionism. However, since the late eighties, there has been a substantial change in the perspective of the Arab–Israeli conflict and an overwhelming majority of Latin American countries have as a consequence recognized Palestine as a State, with support for its membership as an observer State in United Nations. One of the reasons for this shift in the foreign policy of Latin American countries has been the intensive lobbying conducted by the Palestinian National Authority in the region per se. However, this article demonstrates the importance of another factor that has so far received little attention from analysts, i.e. the role of the Palestinian diaspora. In the early twentieth century Latin America welcomed thousands of Palestinian immigrants. In countries like Chile, Honduras and El Salvador, Palestinians prospered significantly and have been integrated successfully into the economic and political elites. The article demonstrates that despite being culturally assimilated into their host countries; Palestinian communities in El Salvador and Honduras have experienced in recent years a rediscovery of their identities and a growing political identification with Palestinian national aspirations. Based on existing documentation and interviews, we conclude that this process of identity rediscovery, together with political and economic influence of the Palestinian elites in these two countries has exerted a decisive influence in transforming a markedly pro-Israeli foreign policy into a direct support of Palestinian national aspirations, which is clearly expressed in the official recognition of the Palestinian State.