Palestine Papers Video: Discussing the Significance of the Documents (Al Jazeera)

Last night, in a special broadcast, Al Jazeera English unveiled more than 1600 documents on Israel-Palestine discussions from 1999 to 2010. We have posted links to both Al Jazeera and to The Guardian, which is also publishing the documents and anlaysis, in our initial entry.

We are awaiting the full copy of the special broadcast, including a dramatic interview with Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator for the Palestinian Authoriyt. In the meantime, this is Al Jazeera's discussion during the programme with former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami, Daud Abdullah of Middle East Monitor UK, and Ali Abunimah, co-founder of Electronic Intifada. The video is in three parts:

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Israel-Palestine: Ramallah Rejects Foreign Minister Lieberman's Map

An Israeli official has said that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has submitted a map, envisioning an interim agreement with the Palestinian Authority, to the Prime Minister's Office. Israel would turn over between 45 to 50% of the West Bank to the provisional state, though additional land could be transferred to Palestinian control in future negotiations. 

On Sunday, chief negotiator Saeb Erekat rejected the plan for a Palestinian state with provisional borders.

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Russia-Palestine-Israel Triangle: Moscow Seeks A Bigger Role

Chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Palestinians will ask the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday to declare Israeli settlements illegal and to demand a halt to their construction.

In advance of the meeting, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was in the West Bank, holding meetings with Ramallah's officials including the Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. Medvedev said:

Russia's position remains unchanged. Russia made its choice a long time ago....We supported and will support the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to an independent state with its capital in East Jerusalem.

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Israel-Palestine Analysis: Secret Talks in Israel But Confusion over Trip to US

On Saturday, the Israeli Prime Minister's office issued a statement that Israeli negotiator "Yitzhak Molcho and a Palestinian representative will travel to Washington next week with the aim of advancing the diplomatic process". Ramallah said they were unaware that any Palestinian official was going to the US.

On the eve of the departure to hear “new American ideas”, Palestinian top negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Tuesday that the peace talks with the Israeli government have ended and it is time for his side to make decisions. He reiterated Ramallah's position that there will be no negotiations until Israel agrees to halt all construction activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

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Israel-Palestine Analysis: Ramallah's International Gains v. West Jerusalem's Version of "Peace"

The Palestinian Authority's chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, without offering details, said Sunday that about ten more European Union capitals will upgrade the status of Palestinian delegations in the near future:

The Israelis are afraid that the issue of recognition of a Palestinian state would enter the EU. We urge the international community to salvage the two-state solution by recognizing a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.

The best description of Ramallah's expectations from the international developments came from a PA official who talked to The Jerusalem Post. He said that the Palestinian pursuit of international recognition will shift the conflict from one over “occupied Palestinian territories” to one over an “occupied state with defined borders".

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Israel-Palestine Analysis: Six Weeks of Indirect Talks But No Clear US Position

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told US special envoy George Mitchell,said that he was "prepared to discuss all of the fundamental issues" necessary for resuming negotiations with Palestinians and reaching a peace agreement.

Netanyahu, with no preconditions such as a settlement freeze, is ready to sit and discuss matters freely. According to some sources, the issues of refugees (with reference to the demand to recognize the "Jewish" character of the State of Israel), security issues, and borders are expected to be on the table. 

The Palestinian side is not in the same position. It has received no "guarantees" from the Obama Administration over recognition of a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders --- whether that is through the UN, from Washington, or through talks --- and a "complete halt" to Israeli construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

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Israel-Palestine Analysis: Washington's "New Strategy" and the Palestinian Response

Challenging the new US line on settlements, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas warned that there would be no talks with Israel unless there was a halt to settlement building.

Having obtained the support of the Arab League and Egypt, Abbas does not want to take a step back on the settlements. Indeed, he may be going on the offensive. The London-based daily Asharq al-Awsat reported on Thursday that Abbas had "given a green light" to his aides to ask the UN to recognize a unilaterally-declared Palestinian state; however, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit asked the Palestinian leadership to give Washington another chance.

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Israel-Palestine Analysis: US Asks West Jerusalem, "What Happens on the 91st Day?"

According to the London-based Al-Quds al-Arabi, Ramallah --- noting the recent US "incentives" offered to Israel to get a three-month extension of the freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank --- is also seeking its own American package.

The Obama administration is being asked to increase funds for the Palestinians and to spell out a "political commitment" for an agreement on the border issue within three months. The Palestinian Authority also wants Washington's assurance that it will deal with the issue of Palestinian refugees, compensating them through an international fund that would involve most countries in the region, including Israel.

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Israel-Palestine Analysis: Netanyahu to Get Narrow Acceptance of US Incentives, Palestinians Set Aside (For Now)

It has not been a week of progress for Palestinian officials. The reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas have failed to show any signs of reconciling, and Yasser Abed Rabbo, Secretary-General of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), told reporters Sunday that he and his colleagues were in the dark on other important matters: 

The Palestinian side is unaware of the details of the talks between the Israeli side and the Americans concerning finding a middle-ground form over freezing settlements. Once we receive an official American response, the Palestinian leadership would study it.

Beyond this feigned surprise, it is obvious that Ramallah is not confident with the proposal to West Jerusalem.

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Israel Analysis: What is on Netanyahu's Mind as He Visits US?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in New Orleans for the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly, asked US Vice President Joe Biden to create a credible threat in the form of a military campaign to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

So, the four rounds of economic sanctions in the last four years against Tehran is insufficient for West Jerusalem, which wants the prospect of US military power days after the Republicans gained the majority in the lower house of Congress. Netanyahu is reportedly prepared to support his argument with intelligence reports saying that Tehran only halted its uranium-enrichment process in 2003 when Washington was still threatening to bomb.

Netanyahu's second subject will be the deadlocked negotiations with the Palestinians.

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