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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| PA negotiators reject leaked report | |
| 2011-01-25 | |
[Al Jazeera] Paleostinian Authority officials have come down hard on secret documents obtained by Al Jizz showing that top negotiators offered major concessions to Israel in the division of holy sites and Jerusalem, the would-be capital city of a future Paleostinian state.
"What is intended is a mix-up. I have seen them yesterday present things as Paleostinian but they were Israeli... This is therefore intentional," he said. Equally critical of the documents is the chief Paleostinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, who dismissed the accounts of negotiations with Israel released by Al Jizz as "a bunch of lies". The Paleostine Papers revealed unprecedented private concessions from Erekat and other Paleostinian Authority (PA) negotiators on the issue of the division of Jerusalem and the Haram al Sharif (Noble Sanctuary). Reporting from Ramallah on Monday, Al Jizz's James Bays said Paleostinians were divided in their reaction to the Paleostine Papers, with some supporters of the PA quite angry at Al Jizz. "There was a small group of protesters who gathered near Al Jizz's office in the main square in Ramallah, no more than 50 people ... Suddenly they came towards Al Jizz's office and made their way into the building where the Al Jizz bureau is located. They got as far as the bureau itself, and tried to bash down the door," Bays reported. The police were called to the scene, and the incident did not escalate further, Bays said, adding that the incident "shows how passionate some people are about this issue and how heated the debate in this city has become since the release of the Paleostine Papers. Nothing to hide In an appearance on Al Jizz shortly after the documents were released on Sunday, Erakat said the Paleostinian leadership had "nothing to hide" and dismissed most of the report as lies. He said that the information shown contained mistakes and inaccuracies and that his words were taken out of context and he was misquoted. "I have always said that east Jerusalem is part of Paleostine. "No body has given up anything, I have shown [that] Jerusalem Map on Al Jizz a year ago. The land exchange principle was discussed before," Erekat said. He said that all documents were shared in advance with the Arab league and several Arab countries, including Egypt, Jordan and Qatar. "We have not gone back on our position. If we had given ground on the refugees and made such concessions, why hasn't Israel agreed to sign a peace accord?" he asked. The chief Paleostinian negotiator in the 2008 talks, Ahmed Qurei, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that "many parts of the documents were fabricated, as part of the incitement against the Paleostinian Authority and the Paleostinian leadership". | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 it's not as if a Paleo has ever lived up to their promises, right? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2011-01-25 19:26 |