Given the secret acceptance by Palestinian negotiators of Israel's annexation of nearly all of the Jewish neighborhoods built in east Jerusalem, as described in the leaked Palestine Papers, "the Palestinian demand over the last year and a half to freeze construction in Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem is ridiculous, since it is clear that they had already conceded the aforementioned neighborhoods in negotiations during [Israeli Prime Minister] Olmert's tenure," associates of Prime Minister Netanyahu said.
(Ha'aretz)
PA Says PLO Employees Leaked Documents -Khaled Abu Toameh
The PA suspects that employees working for the PLO Negotiations Department leaked secret documents to Al-Jazeera "in return for large sums," a PA security source said.
(Jerusalem Post)
Al-Jazeera Seeking to Bring Down PA -Khaled Abu Toameh
Al-Jazeera, the Arab world's most influential TV network, has ruled that the leaders of the Palestinian Authority have betrayed their people and must therefore step down. They have been found guilty of ceding control over most of east Jerusalem to Israel, relinquishing the right of return for millions of Palestinian refugees, and coordinating security with Israeli authorities. Some PA officials claimed that Qatar, which owns Al-Jazeera, set out to "politically liquidate" Abbas and help Hamas extend its control to the West Bank.
Al-Jazeera has succeeded in instilling in the minds of many Palestinians and Arabs the belief that the leaders of the PA are a bunch of corrupt traitors who serve Israeli and American interests. The damage to the PA's image and reputation is colossal and irreparable.
(Jerusalem Post)
Leaks Don't Show Shocking Concessions -Edmund Sanders
Despite the spin by Al-Jazeera and critics of the PA, the documents released don't show Palestinian negotiators giving away the store. To the contrary, they're depicted as taking a surprisingly hard-line stance against giving up massive West Bank settlements such as Maale Adumim, Givat Zeev, Har Homa and Ariel, which most experts have long presumed would be retained by Israel with little fuss.
(Los Angeles Times)
What Palestinian Concessions? -David Frum
Where are the big Palestinian concessions contained in the documents? The documents demand Palestinian sovereignty over almost all of historic Jerusalem, including the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism. They demand Palestinian control of lands equal in territory to the 1967 lands.
(CNN)
Huge Gap Between Public and Private Palestinian Stance -Herb Keinon
Rather than saying loudly and proudly that the publication of the documents shows a willingness to give up on maximalist Palestinian demands, the PA reaction was the complete opposite. It was to deny everything, and to say that the PA would not give in an inch. The documents show again the huge gap between what Arab leaders say in public and what they say in private.
The PA had the chance to say in public what it apparently said in private: that it was not cleaving to the last grain of sand. But it failed the test - something that doesn't bode well for the future.
(Jerusalem Post)
NastyLeaks -Robert M. Danin
The Palestine Papers are a direct attack on the leadership of the PLO, its negotiators, and the very idea of negotiating peace with Israel. Al Jazeera played along, insinuating that the documents show that the Palestinian leadership is willing to capitulate to Israeli desires.
Palestinian leaders have done a lamentable job of preparing their public for the types of concessions necessary for an enduring Israeli-Palestinian settlement. Accordingly, the leakers seem to have intended to sabotage the peace process by revealing the far-reaching compromises that were under discussion.
The release of the Palestine Papers has put the PLO leadership on the defensive. It will now seek to demonstrate its nationalist resolve by staking out very tough conditions to return to the negotiating table.
(Foreign Policy)
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