Leaked documents released by al-Jazeera
TV suggest Palestinian negotiators agreed
to Israel keeping large parts of illegally
occupied East Jerusalem.
The TV channel says it has thousands of
confidential records covering the peace process
between 2000 and 2010.The papers also reportedly show Palestinian
leaders proposing a joint committee to take over
Jerusalem's holy sites of Haram al-Sharif/Temple
Mount.
The BBC has been unable to independently verify
the documents.
Al-Jazeera says it has 16,076 confidential records
of meetings, emails, communications between
Palestinian, Israeli and US leaders.
The papers are believed to have leaked from the
Palestinian side.
The alleged offers relating to East Jerusalem are
the most controversial, as the issue has been a
huge stumbling block in Mideast talks and both
Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their
capital.
Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East
Jerusalem, since 1967, settling close to 500,000
Jews in more than 100 settlements.
Increasing frustration
According to al-Jazeera, in May 2008, Ahmed
Qureia, the lead Palestinian negotiator at the time,
proposed that Israel annex all Jewish settlements
in East Jerusalem except Har Homa (Jabal Abu
Ghneim), in a bid to reach a final deal.
"This is the first time in history that we make
such a proposition," he reportedly said, pointing
out that this was a bigger concession than made
at Camp David talks in 2000.
PLO leaders also privately suggested swapping
part of the flashpoint East Jerusalem Arab
neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah for land
elsewhere, according to the leaked documents.
And Palestinian negotiators were reported to be
willing to discuss limiting the number of
Palestinian refugees returning to 100,000 over 10
years.
These are all highly sensitive issues and have
previously been non-negotiable.
Current peace talks between Israel and the
Palestinians have been suspended for months,
ostensibly over Israel's refusal to stop building
Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
The BBC's Wyre Davies, in Jerusalem, says that
for years, the same Palestinian leaders have been
talking with Israeli and American negotiators - but
getting nowhere.
Our correspondent says there has been
increasing frustration and protest among many
Palestinians over what they see as Israeli
expansion and the weakness of their own leaders
- a view that will be reinforced by the leak of
these documents.
The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, who
features in many of the leaked papers, appeared
on Al Jazeera Arabic TV on Sunday to
strenuously deny that he had made these sorts of
offers.
Source: Http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12263095
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