They are presented as "the most important leaked documents in the history of Israeli-Palestinian conflict." The few papers published since 1600 on Sunday night by the pan-Arab channel Al-Jazeera and the British daily "The Guardian" bring a new light on the peace negotiations in the Middle East between 1999 and 2010. They reveal the extent of such concessions that the Palestinian Authority was ready to go, especially on the crucial issues of the status of Jerusalem and the return of refugees.
These revelations "concerning bids Palestinian, all the more explosive than the other for the street," says Gallagher Fenwick, FRANCE 24's correspondent in Jerusalem.They have something seriously damage the credibility of the already weakened Palestinian Authority to the Palestinian population. They portray leaders almost desperate face confident Israeli negotiators, backed by the Americans. "
From Monday morning, the Islamist party Hamas has denounced the "implication" of the Palestinian Authority "in attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause."
Asked about Al-Jazeera on Sunday, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told him that these documents were a "tissue of lies.""What was broadcast was distorted and taken out of context, and contains lies," he said Monday.
"The biggest Yourshalayem of history"
According to these confidential documents, mainly reports of meetings, and contrary to the positions shown in public, the Palestinian Authority would have done behind the scenes of major concessions to the Jewish state over the past two decades. For example:
Jerusalem: In 2008, a leading Palestinian negotiator, Ahmed Qureia, proposed that Israel annex the Jewish settlements built in and around East Jerusalem since 1967 with the exception of Abu Ghneim - called Har Homa by the Israelis."This is the first time in history that we do such a proposal, we had refused during the discussions at Camp David, in 2000, said Ahmed Qureia on this occasion. "It's no secret that we have proposed the largest Yourshalayem - Jerusalem in Hebrew - of history," said his side the chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat to the former Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni.
Proposals completely contrary to the official position: "From our perspective, there are no negotiations over Jerusalem.Jerusalem is ours ", repeated Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, there is another week.
The Israeli authorities did nothing at the time proposed in exchange for these concessions the Palestinian ruling that they "did not go far enough."
Esplanade of the Mosques: Regarding the Temple Mount, Saeb Erekat has proposed an "innovative solution" which is that an international committee monitoring this area in the old city of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount houses the third holiest of Islam.Refugees: On the thorny issue of right of return for Palestinian refugees, Saeb Erekat said he was ready to accept "the return of 10,000 of them per year over 10 years, a total of 100 000. Yet it is estimated about five million people the number of refugees. Safety: These documents also reveal a high level of security cooperation between Israeli security forces and the Israel, and prove that President Mahmoud Abbas was informed of an imminent Israeli attack against Gaza - Operation Lead Cast - in late 2008.A senior Israeli official denied Monday that information. "This is an example of inaccuracy.No specific warning about an attack has been sent to the Palestinian Authority, "said Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad Reserve, Director of Political-Military Affairs at the Ministry of Defence.
Blockade: In 2008, Saeb Erekat also asked Livni to "strengthen the Israeli blockade" imposed on the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas."It takes political courage"
On Monday, former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon, a member of Kadima, he has found that these documents prove that the Israeli government "has a true partner for peace"."It is further necessary that the search" sincerely, "he added.
For Ofer Bronchtein, president of the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation in the Middle East, these are the parameters of a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which, with these revelations publicly exposed: a recognition in principle of Israel's right to return for Palestinians and a sharing of Jerusalem, which would become the capital of two states. "The secret negotiations, that's enough! Says Ofer Bronchtein to FRANCE 24. There is nothing left to invent for peace between Israelis and Palestinians."
"Ehud Olmert [former Israeli Prime Minister, ed] and Mahmoud Abbas arrived in a millimeter of a peace agreement," he says.Unfortunately, the political situation in Israel has not allowed that agreement to be signed. Today we must strengthen the Palestinian Authority so it can get these decisions to public opinion, and Israel must show some political courage. It is political courage needed by the Middle East, "said Ofer Bronchtein finally.
