The Palestine Papers

Andrew Wilson
January 24, 2011

Friends,

After the failure of the peace talks, now we see a destabilization of the previous actors and their structures of consensus. Among the Palestinians, this happened yesterday with the publication of the leaked Palestine Papers. They reveal the behind-the-scenes negotiating positions of their leaders in previous peace talks which they had kept hidden from the general population, positions like: Only 10,000 refugees will return, or all the Jewish neighborhoods in E. Jerusalem will go to Israel. On seeing these statements that are so entirely at odds with the public pronouncements of Palestinian leaders, some people are up in arms. Others are saying that it is good to clear the air about what might be realistic in a peace settlement, to put aside false expectations.

I think the best source for all this is al-Jazeera: english.aljazeera.net/palestinepapers/

In addition to reading some of the articles specifically relating to the leaks, there is also a provocative article by Alistair Crooke about Israel's motives in not agreeing to a 2-state solution even when it appeared that the two sides were close. I don't know if you will agree with him, but I found it interesting the way he marshaled reasons why Israel might prefer not to sign a peace agreement. The problematic of Israel's non-Jewish minority for the Zionist project, and the likelihood that a 2-state solution would require Israel to give this minority more rights, seems explains the otherwise seemingly irrelevant insistence of the Israeli Right that the Palestinians accept Israel as a "Jewish State" as a condition of talks. I think it will be up to the Israelis to prove him wrong. english.aljazeera.net/palestinepapers/2011/01/201112412224387862.html

I believe that God is working in the background to shake things up. With the publication of the Palestine Papers, the Palestinians really have to take a hard look at themselves. Will the Israelis be next? Events are moving quickly...

Andrew