Palestinian Leaders Condemn Al-Jazeera Report

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Palestinian leaders are finding themselves in an awkward position. Thats after the release of secret documents about Middle East peace talks. Al-Jazeera obtained about 1,600 documents. They show that the Palestinians offered unprecedented concessions but were rebuffed by Israeli leaders.

From Jerusalem, NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro explains.

LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO: The repeated failures of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process has left trail of paperwork that can often read like a tortured Russian novel, filled with despair, alienation and so far, no ending.

The latest installment comes from al-Jazeera, documents it independently obtained and verified that detail specific conversations between key figures. The papers include notes from private meetings, maps and graphs.

Much of what is there was already known. But the documents do reveal that the Palestinians offered to make several major concessions, in talks with the government of the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in 2008. Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem, save one, would fall under Israeli sovereignty. Only a token number of refugees would have the right to return to their homes. Israelis seemingly rejected the offers.

Mr. YASSER ABED RABBO (Member, Palestinian Liberation Organization): (Foreign language spoken)

GARCIA-NAVARRO: At a press conference in Ramallah, senior Palestinian official Yasser Abed Rabbo accused al-Jazeera of spreading disinformation, as part of a concerted campaign to undermine the Palestinian Authority.

Mr. RABBO: (Foreign language spoken)

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Abed Rabbo also accused the Gulf State of Qatar, where al-Jazeera is based, of being in on the attempt to blacken the PA's name.

The Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas has always had to play a delicate game. On the one hand, it can't be seen to betray the Palestinian cause. On the other, its very legitimacy rests on its ability to seal a deal with Israel.

Mahmoud Abbas and his government are already on shaky ground because of the split between the PA in the West Bank and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. There haven't been elections in territories since 2006 and Abbas's mandate has expired.

There was anger after the revelations among some Palestinian commentators today, who asked why Abbas and his government are allowed to negotiate at all, especially when they were willing to give away so much.

Abdul Sattar-Qasim is a professor of political science in the West Bank University of An-Najah.

Professor ABDUL SATTAR-QASIM (Political, An-Najah National University): The Palestinian Authority is just an agent and so many of the Palestinian leaders had been made by the Israeli and the Americans. And they are carrying out an American and Israeli agenda. It's not a Palestinian agenda.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Hamas has jumped in to attack the PA, as well.

Al-Jazeera is promising three more days of juicy revelations that are likely to anger the Palestinian public even more. Details of the close cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian security forces will be revealed. It will likely make uncomfortable viewing for Palestinians, reminding them that their government works with their occupiers.

So far, there's been little reaction to the revelations by the Israeli government. Only Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman spoke out on the radio.

Mr. AVIGDOR Lieberman (Foreign Minister, Israel): (Foreign language spoken)

GARCIA-NAVARRO: He says, despite the concessions of the Olmert government, they did not manage to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians. It should lead everyone to the conclusion that the only option is a long-term interim agreement.

Lieberman is pushing his own peace plan - an interim deal that is thought would only leave the Palestinians with about 50 percent of the West Bank.

Meanwhile, the pro-peace camp in Israel was heartened by the al-Jazeera revelations. The left-leaning daily Ha'aretz wrote: The leaked documents complete discredits the claim that Israel has no peace partner. The documents, says Ha'aretz, are a testimony that the Palestinians are willing to go the distance for peace.

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR News, Jerusalem.

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