The Palestine Papers is a collection of confidential documents about the
Israeli–Palestinian peace process
The Israeli–Palestinian peace process refers to the intermittent discussions held by various parties and proposals put forward in an attempt to resolve the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Since the 1970s, there has been a parallel ef ...
leaked to
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
, which published them between 23 and 26 January 2011. Nearly 1,700 documents from the office of the main
PLO negotiator,
Saeb Erekat, and his team have been published, dating from 1999 to 2010.
[''Guardian'', 24 January 2011]
"The story behind the Palestine papers"
/ref>
Both Al Jazeera and ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' stated that they have authenticated the documents, and a media adviser to Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert (; he, אֶהוּד אוֹלְמֶרְט, ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as the 12th Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and before that as a cabinet minister from 1988 to 1992 and ...
also affirmed their authenticity. Leaders of the Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, have complained about the way the documents were presented by Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
.
Background
The Palestine Papers include documents about the negotiations between the Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establ ...
(PLO) and the government of Israel that took place intermittently between 1999 and 2010. The negotiations in 1993 that led to the Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; were the first direct negotiations between the parties. The following "peace process" focused on the formation of the Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, (PA) and the territory it would govern. The PA, however, represents only the local people in the Palestinian Territories
The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The I ...
, not the Palestinians in the diaspora
A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
.
In 2011, when the Papers were published, the negotiations were in a deadlock after the refusal in September 2010 of the Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
government to extend the freeze of settlements building over ten months. Ziyad Clot, as of 2011 the only identified source, felt frustrated about the fact that the great majority of the Palestinian people, the refugees
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. , being one of the "remaining issues" in the "peace process", were not properly represented.
Sources of the Papers
The documents were obtained by Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
and shared in advance of publication with ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' in an effort to ensure the wider availability of their content. ''The Guardian'' has authenticated the bulk of the Papers independently, but has not sought or been given access to the sources of the documents. Al Jazeera, which published the Papers on their website, has redacted minimal parts of the papers to protect their sources' identities.
NSU
Most of the documents are from the Palestinian negotiation support unit (NSU). The NSU was the PLO's main technical and legal advice organ in the peace negotiations, set up in 1999 and headed by Saeb Erekat. Gershon Baskin, codirector of Israel/Palestinian Center for Research, said, "I'm 100 percent sure that it's a former disgruntled employed" member of the Negotiations Support Unit headed by Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat. Israel's Channel 10 news show also named the source of the leak as a former member of the NSU.
Clayton Swisher
On 27 January 2011, following Al Jazeera's broadcast of the Palestine Papers, Saeb Erekat appeared on Al Jazeera Arabic, condemning the publication. He accused Al Jazeera journalist Clayton Swisher
Clayton E. Swisher is an American former journalist and author, who now works as a geopolitical risk analyst. Formerly the Director of Investigative Journalism for the Al Jazeera Media Network in Doha, Qatar, he now heads Swisher Empirical Studies ...
, who delivered the disclosure of the Palestine Papers, of being a CIA agent and of working for the NSU. He also said that former British intelligence officer Alastair Crooke
Alastair Crooke CMG, sometimes misspelled as Alistair Crooke (born 1949), is a former British diplomat, and is the founder and director of the Beirut-based Conflicts Forum, an organisation that advocates for engagement between political Islam a ...
was involved. In Ma'an News Agency
Ma'an News Agency (MNA; ar, وكالة معا الإخبارية) is a large wire service created in 2005 in the Palestinian territories. It is part of the Ma'an Network, a non-governmental organization media network created in 2002 in the Palest ...
, Erekat later admitted Clayton Swisher neither worked for the Palestinians nor the US intelligence agency.
A few weeks after the publication of the Palestine Papers, on 11 February 2011, Erekat resigned as Chief PLO Negotiator, citing the release of the papers and due to an internal Palestinian investigation that suggested the Palestine Papers leak had come from a source inside Erekat's office. As of February 2017, however, he was still holding the function of Chief Palestinian Negotiator.
In his book ''The Palestine Papers: The End of the Road?'', Swisher confirmed account, as he wrote, "In the fall of 2010, I traveled the world meeting with US, Israeli, and Palestinian Authority officials who had no idea that I held in my possession the secret records of their negotiations". A complaint filed by Erekat and the PLO against Al Jazeera and Clayton Swisher on grounds of unfairness was wholly dismissed in a 19-page ruling released in October 2011.
Ziyad Clot
In a 14 May 2011 op-ed article in the ''Guardian'', Ziyad Clot, a French lawyer of Palestinian descent and a former adviser for the NSU involved in 2008 Annapolis negotiations exposed himself as one of the sources of the leaks. In the ''Guardian'' article, Clot said that the so-called peace process was "an inequitable and destructive political process which had been based on the assumption that the Palestinians could in effect negotiate their rights and achieve self-determination while enduring the hardship of the Israeli occupation". He also said that "the "peace negotiations" were a deceptive farce whereby biased terms were unilaterally imposed by Israel and systematically endorsed by the US and EU". Clot emphasized that "these negotiations excluded for the most part the great majority of the Palestinian people: the seven million Palestinian refugees". He felt "that the PLO, given its structure, was not in a position to represent all Palestinian rights and interests". Clot resigned from the NSU after he witnessed the killing of more than 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza during the Gaza War. After he resigned, he believed he had a duty to inform the public. In the Guardian article, he also stated: "In full conscience, and acting independently, I later agreed to share some information with al-Jazeera specifically with regard to the fate of Palestinian refugee rights in the 2008 talks. Other sources did the same, although I am unaware of their identity."[Why I blew the whistle about Palestine]
''The Guardian'', 14 May 2011
The documents
Character of the documents
The ''Palestine Papers'' include many minutes
Minutes, also known as minutes of meeting (abbreviation MoM), protocols or, informally, notes, are the instant written record of a meeting or hearing. They typically describe the events of the meeting and may include a list of attendees, a state ...
of bilateral meetings between Israel and the Palestinians and with the US as well as minutes of joint trilateral meetings. They also include other documents, such as memos, email
Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...
s, letters, strategy papers, a matrix of positions[Current P/I positions reflecting discussion up to June 30, 2008]
/ref> and even maps of possible land swaps[Meeting Minutes On Borders]
4 May 2008. O
Summary of Olmert’s “Package” Offer to Abu Mazen
31 August 2008. O
/ref> and power point presentations
There were published 1,684 total documents, including:
* 275 sets of meeting minutes;
* 690 internal emails;
* 153 reports and studies;
* 134 sets of talking points and prep notes for meetings;
* 64 draft agreements;
* 54 maps, charts and graphs;
* and 51 "non-papers".
Akiva Eldar
Akiva Eldar ( he, עקיבא אלדר; born 27 November 1945) is a political analyst, author and contributor to Israeli daily Haaretz. He was chief political columnist, editorial writer and US Bureau Chief for the paper,[Haaretz
''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...]
'', said that the documents are more important than those released by Wikileaks because they deal with current issues regarding permanent borders in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Settlements
At a meeting in November 2007, Tzipi Livni
Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni ( he, ציפי (ציפורה) מלכה לבני, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former fore ...
told Ahmed Qurei
Ahmed Ali Mohammed Qurei (or Qureia; ar, أحمد علي محمد قريع, ), also known by his Arabic ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Alaa (, ) (born 26 March 1937) is a former Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. First appointe ...
that "I understand the sentiments of the Palestinians when they see the settlements being built. The meaning from the Palestinian perspective is that Israel takes more land, that the Palestinian state will be impossible, the Israel policy is to take more and more land day after day and that at the end of the day we'll say that it is impossible, we already have the land and cannot create the state".
According to the documents, in a meeting with Livni in Jerusalem, Qurei proposed that Israel annex all settlements along the border except for the large cities and towns of , Ma'ale Adumim
Ma'ale Adumim ( he, מַעֲלֵה אֲדֻמִּים; ar, معالي أدوميم) is an urban Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the West Bank, seven kilometers () east of Jerusalem. Ma'ale Adumim achieved city status in 1991. ...
, Ariel
Ariel may refer to:
Film and television
*Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award
* ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki
* ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video series based on the novel series ...
, and Efrat
Efrat ( he, אֶפְרָת), or previously officially Efrata ( he, אֶפְרָתָה), is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, established in 1983 in the Judean Mountains. Efrat is located south of Jerusalem, between Bethlehem and Hebron, ...
.[Patrick Martin, ''The Globe and Mail'', 23 August 2012]
Israel rejected historic concessions, 'Palestine Papers' reveal
/ref> Livni rejected Qurei's demands that Israel cede these settlements. Qurei suggested to Livni that these settlements be placed under Palestinian sovereignty, but Livni told him "you know this is not realistic". Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th Uni ...
similarly told Qurei that "I don't think that any Israeli leader is going to cede Ma'ale Adumim", to which Qurei replied "or any Palestinian". Rice then told him "Then you won't have a state!"[Al Jazeera − Palestine Papers, 23 January 2011]
"The biggest Yerushalayim"
/ref>
Napkin map
"Napkin map" is a colloquial name for a Palestinian sketch made by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...
on a napkin, of a map with land swap proposals shown to him by then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert (; he, אֶהוּד אוֹלְמֶרְט, ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as the 12th Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and before that as a cabinet minister from 1988 to 1992 and ...
during peace negotiations in mid-2008. According to Al Jazeera, Abbas was not allowed to keep the unofficial map, so he sketched it by hand. During the first of several meetings, the Palestinian Authority proposed a land swap, offering Israel the opportunity to annex all of the Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem in return for land concessions by Israel. Olmert, however, offered no concessions in return but an even more aggressive land swap.[Al Jazeera – Palestine Papers]
The "napkin map" revealed
The maps
/ref>
In Prime Minister Olmert's own proposal, Israel would annex 6.3% of the West Bank. The land in Olmert's map included the four settlements of Gush Etzion
Gush Etzion ( he, גּוּשׁ עֶצְיוֹן, ' Etzion Bloc) is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains, directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The core group includes four Jewish agricultural v ...
(with Efrat
Efrat ( he, אֶפְרָת), or previously officially Efrata ( he, אֶפְרָתָה), is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, established in 1983 in the Judean Mountains. Efrat is located south of Jerusalem, between Bethlehem and Hebron, ...
), Ma'ale Adumim
Ma'ale Adumim ( he, מַעֲלֵה אֲדֻמִּים; ar, معالي أدوميم) is an urban Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the West Bank, seven kilometers () east of Jerusalem. Ma'ale Adumim achieved city status in 1991. ...
, , and Ariel
Ariel may refer to:
Film and television
*Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award
* ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki
* ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video series based on the novel series ...
, in addition to all settlements in East Jerusalem (Har Homa
Har Homa ( he, הר חומה, lit ''Wall Mountain''), officially Homat Shmuel, is an Israeli settlement in southern East Jerusalem, near the Palestinian city of Beit Sahour. The settlement is also referred to as "Jabal Abu Ghneim" (also "J ...
). In exchange for those concessions by the Palestinian Authority, Olmert offered 5.8% of Israeli land as part of the swap. The land offered consisted of lightly populated farmland, which would be divided between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. When Mahmoud Abbas asked to keep a copy of the map for further consideration, Ehud Olmert refused. Mahmoud Abbas sketched Ehud Olmert's map by hand on a napkin to have a copy for further consideration.[Al Jazeera – Palestine Papers]
''Summary of Ehud Olmert’s “Package” Offer to Mahmoud Abbas – August 31, 2008''
/ref> This map was then later referred to as the ''Napkin map''.
The third and final meeting occurred on 16 September 2008. It was during this time that Ehud Olmert was nearing the end of his political career. At the time, Olmert was under police investigation for alleged corruption that had occurred while he was Mayor of Jerusalem, and as a result of the accusations was not planning on running again. During the final meeting, Mahmoud Abbas was prepared by the Negotiation Support Unit (NSU) to clarify many questions regarding Ehud Olmert's peace plan in which Abbas was quoted as asking questions such as "How do you see it addressing our interests, especially as Ariel, Maale Adumim, Givat Zeev, Har Homa and Efrat clearly prejudice contiguity, water aquifers, and the viability of Palestine?" as well as others about the value of the land that they would receive in such a swap in terms of value and size.
The Negotiation Support Unit (NSU) also insisted that Prime Minister Olmert provide them with a copy of the map, which was again denied. In the end, however, Mahmoud Abbas asked for a few days to consider the offer. A day after this meeting, Olmert resigned and Tzipi Livni
Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni ( he, ציפי (ציפורה) מלכה לבני, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former fore ...
stepped in as Acting Prime Minister, with Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
being elected shortly afterward. Palestinian negotiators said Abbas had forgotten another appointment and postponed the next meeting. Netanyahu thought Olmert had made too many concessions and refused to continue from where the last round of negotiations had left off, preferring to restart the negotiations from the beginning.
Jerusalem
According to one of the documents, the Palestinian Authority was prepared to concede most Israeli settlements
Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...
in East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel.
Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...
, as well as the Armenian Quarter
The Armenian Quarter ( ar, حارة الأرمن, ''Harat al-Arman''; he, הרובע הארמני, ''Ha-Rova ha-Armeni''; hy, Հայոց թաղ, ) is one of the four sectors of the walled Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem. Located i ...
, with the exception of Har Homa
Har Homa ( he, הר חומה, lit ''Wall Mountain''), officially Homat Shmuel, is an Israeli settlement in southern East Jerusalem, near the Palestinian city of Beit Sahour. The settlement is also referred to as "Jabal Abu Ghneim" (also "J ...
. The Temple Mount
The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compoun ...
would be temporarily administrated by a joint body consisting of the Palestinian Authority, Israel, Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, and the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
until a permanent solution was reached.
At the meeting in Jerusalem in November 2007, Tzipi Livni became visibly angry when asked about the demographic composition of the future Israeli state. She was quoted as saying, "Israel the state of the Jewish people—and I would like to emphasize the meaning of 'its people' is the Jewish people—with Jerusalem the united and undivided capital of Israel and of the Jewish people for 3,007 years". The Palestinians team then protested her position on Jerusalem. She responded by saying "Now I have to say, before we continue, in order to continue we have to put out Jerusalem from your statement and from our place. We have enough differences, without putting another one out there".
Security
The minutes of the trilateral meeting on 26 August 2008 reveal that Israel not only demands a "demilitarized" Palestinian state, but also wants to keep control over borders, Jordan Valley and airspace, after withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the West Bank, for reasons of security.
Tzipi Livni
Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni ( he, ציפי (ציפורה) מלכה לבני, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former fore ...
: "In the Jordan Valley – what will be between Palestine and Jordan. EWS. arly Warning Stations
The Arly () is a 32.1 km long river in the departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie, France. It is a tributary of the Isère, which it joins at Albertville.
Towns crossed by the river
* Megève
* Praz-sur-Arly
* Flumet
* Saint-Nicolas-la-Chap ...
... the I is that we will have something on the crossings, borders, etc ... The idea is to withdraw, but to keep a presence, not close to the situation today, on the EWS, on passages ..."[Al Jazeera – Palestine Papers]
Meeting Summary, 26 August 2008
second part, pp. 18–19; o
/ref>
Refugees
Yankie Galenty, a media adviser for Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert (; he, אֶהוּד אוֹלְמֶרְט, ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as the 12th Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and before that as a cabinet minister from 1988 to 1992 and ...
, affirmed the complete authenticity of the documents in an interview. In regards to refugees, he stated that "Olmert, from day one, did not deceive Abu Mazen and told him that Israel will not allow the return of refugees and not one refugee will return to the land of Israel."
Other officials in the Israeli government asked for a limited right of return numbering between five and ten thousand, out of a total of five million refugees, who would be carefully picked by Israel and allowed to stay under "humanitarian conditions".
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th Uni ...
proposed settling Palestinians refugees in Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
and Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
as an alternative to letting them return to former homes in Israel and the occupied territories during a meeting.
In her memoirs, Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th Uni ...
wrote that Olmert initially proposed that Israel accept 5,000 Palestinians refugees. Abbas rejected the offer, saying, "I can't tell four million Palestinians that only 5,000 of them can go home". According to the second night of the Al-Jazeera broadcast, Israelis and Palestinians eventually agreed that Israel would accept 10,000 refugees.
Reactions
Palestinian Authority
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...
said the leaked documents deliberately confuse Israeli and Palestinian positions, and that he had kept the Arab League
The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...
updated on all details of the negotiations with Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the leaks were "a pack of lies", containing mistakes and inaccuracies and that his words were taken out of context and he had been misquoted. Erekat said that the "Palestinian Authority would never give up any of our rights. If we did indeed offer Israel the Jewish and Armenian Quarters of Jerusalem, and the biggest Yerushalayim as they claim, then why did Israel not sign a final status agreement? Is it not strange that we would offer all these concessions which Israel demands, yet there is still no peace deal?"
Yasser Abed Rabbo
Yasser Abed Rabbo ( ar, ياسر عبد ربه) also known by his '' kunya'', Abu Bashar ( ar, ابو بشار) (born 17 September 1945) is a Palestinian politician and a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Executive Committee ...
, giving the PA's first official response, accused ''Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
'' and the Government of Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
of attacking the Palestinian Authority, having a hostile attitude towards the PA since the days of former president Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
. Abed Rabbo was quoted saying that the Al-Jazeera leaks are "a distortion of the truth". Abed Rabbo accused the Emir of Qatar
The Emir, or Amir, of the State of Qatar ( ar, أمیر دولة قطر) is the monarch and head of state of the country. He is also the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and guarantor of the Constitution. He holds the most powerful positio ...
, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Hamad bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani ( ar, حمد بن خليفة الثاني; born 1 January 1952) is a member of the ruling Al Thani Qatari royal family. He was the ruling Emir of Qatar from 1995 ...
, of giving Al Jazeera the "green light" to start the campaign, and called on the Emir to "extend the climate of transparency in his own state and reveal his true relations with Israel and Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
".
Mahmoud al-Zahar
Mahmoud al-Zahar ( ar, محمود الزهار ') (born 6 May 1945) is a Palestinian politician. He is a co-founder of Hamas and a member of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. Al-Zahar served as foreign minister in the Hamas-dominated Pa ...
, a senior Hamas
Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...
official in Gaza, stated that the Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, officials should be ashamed of themselves.
Ahmed Qurei
Ahmed Ali Mohammed Qurei (or Qureia; ar, أحمد علي محمد قريع, ), also known by his Arabic ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Alaa (, ) (born 26 March 1937) is a former Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. First appointe ...
, former Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority
A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...
and chief Palestinian negotiator in the 2008 talks, said that "many parts of the documents were fabricated, as part of the incitement against the Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, and the Palestinian leadership".
Nasser Gawi
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...
, a lead organizer for demonstrations in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah
Sheikh Jarrah ( ar, الشيخ جراح, he, שייח' ג'ראח) is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, north of the Old City, on the road to Mount Scopus. It received its name from the 13th-century tomb of Sheikh Ja ...
, where he had been recently evicted by Israeli settlers from his home, was quoted as saying "Erekat must have become more Zionist than Zionist. He has no mandate to give up Sheikh Jarrah or an inch of Palestine."
Israel
Israeli Foreign Minister
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( he, מִשְׂרַד הַחוּץ, translit. ''Misrad HaHutz''; ar, وزارة الخارجية الإسرائيلية) is one of the most important ministries in the Israeli government. The ministry's ...
Avigdor Lieberman
Avigdor Lieberman (, ; russian: Эве́т Льво́вич Ли́берман, Evet Lvovich Liberman, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician serving as Minister of Finance since 2021, having previously served twice as Deputy ...
said that "even the most left-wing government of Olmert and Livni did not manage to reach a peace agreement, despite the many concessions." He also promoted his plan
A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions through which one expects to achieve a goal.
F ...
for peace, which would allocate 45% to 50% of the West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
for the creation of a Palestinian state.
Livni said that "the eaceprocess did not fail and was not exhausted. It did not end, but was not allowed to ripen until an agreement was reached because of elections in Israel and this government's choice not to continue the negotiations."
See also
* United States diplomatic cables leak
The United States diplomatic cables leak, widely known as Cablegate, began on Sunday, 28 November 2010 when WikiLeaks began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates, embassies, and d ...
, also known as Cablegate
* Iraq War documents leak
The Iraq War documents leak is the disclosure to WikiLeaks of 391,832 United States Army field reports, also called the Iraq War Logs, of the Iraq War from 2004 to 2009 and published on the Internet on 2010. The files record 66,081 civilian deat ...
, also known as the Iraqi War Logs
* Afghan War documents leak
The Afghan War documents leak, also called the Afghan War Diary, is the disclosure of a collection of internal U.S. military logs of the War in Afghanistan, which were published by WikiLeaks on 2010. The logs consist of over 91,000 Afghan War ...
References
External links
Search the Palestine Papers
on Al Jazeera's English Transparency Unit
The Palestine Papers
by Al Jazeera English
Al Jazeera English (AJE; ar, الجزيرة, translit=al-jazīrah, , literally "The Peninsula", referring to the Qatar Peninsula) is an international 24-hour English-language news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which is own ...
The Palestine Papers
by ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
The Palestine Papers
by ''The Real News
The Real News Network (TRNN) is an independent, nonprofit news organization based in Baltimore, MD that covers both national and international news.
History
TRNN was founded by documentary producer Paul Jay and Mishuk Munier in September 2 ...
''
The Palestine Papers
by the Jewish Virtual Library
* Rashid Khalidi
Rashid Ismail Khalidi (; born 1948) is an American historian of the Middle East and the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University. He served as editor of the '' Journal of Palestine Studies'' from 2002 until 2020, whe ...
Leaked "Palestine Papers" Underscore Weakness of Palestinian Authority
– video report by ''Democracy Now!
''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...
''
Palestinian negotiators say leaked papers real
by Abbas Al Lawati of ''Gulf News
''Gulf News'' is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was first launched in 1978, and is currently distributed throughout the UAE and also in other Persian Gulf Countries. Its online edition was launch ...
''
{{Israeli–Palestinian conflict
2011 in the Palestinian territories
2011 in Israel
Israeli–Palestinian peace process
Classified documents
The Guardian
Al Jazeera
Diplomatic correspondence
News leaks