Now I see why Fatah protesters occupied Al Jazeera’s offices in Ramallah yesterday. Today’s publication of the Palestine Papers series exposes the PA negotiators with Israel as collaborating in the assassination of their own Fatah-affiliated militants in Gaza. To be clear, I’m not one who favors armed resistance from either side of this conflict and I have little use for those who take up the gun or missile or Apache helicopter in pursuit of their aims.
But even I think it smells to high heaven that the PA didn’t react with total disgust when Israel’s then defense minister proposed that the PA assassinate an Al Aksa Brigade leader inside Gaza. When the PA didn’t act promptly enough in doing Israel’s bidding Israel did the job itself with a missile from an Apache which wounded three innocent bystanders and killed the militant. In the transcript, the PA negotiator actually says to Shaul Mofaz: why should we kill him when you’re not offering us anything? In other words, he’s bargaining for advantage in the negotiation with the life of one of his own followers.
Later in the Al Jazeera report, it quotes Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator as saying that the PA has already killed Palestinians in order to establish its supremacy.
The Papers also reveal that the PA begged the Israelis to tighten the Gaza siege by occupying the Philadelphi corridor (separating Gaza from Egypt) in order to shut down trafficking between the two entities. Meaning Fatah actually wished greater harm to their own people that it was already suffering in Gaza.
The Papers and Wikileaks also reveal (and this was already well-known) the close bonds between Mohammed Dahlan, Fatah’s brutal strongman based in Gaza (until he was summarily booted out by Hamas), and the CIA and Israeli Shabak. Dahlan, widely seen as corrupt, was suspended last year from the Fatah leadership for plotting a coup against Mahmoud Abbas.
“war is an expression of politics by other means” said Carl von Clausewitz, sometimes when you reach a dead end, there is no other way.
The Fatah cooperate with Israel, because they do not want the radical components to take over, they know that will lead no where.
Pure BS. Fatah collaborates (not cooperates) with Israel because they don’t give a rap about the Palestinian people and their rights, they profit from it personally in a variety of ways, and they always have.
Dahlan is my bet as the source of these leaked documents. Abass recently ousted him, and revenge is sweet.
Israel may be the source of the leaks as well.
after the document were revealed no one can play games any longer,and either Abu-Mazen can passan agreement or he can’t. such an agreement will be approved by the Israeli parliament.
and Richard just FYI Livin was speaking about 4 villages which the border crosses in the middle, Israel is doing the same thing with the northern village of Ragar, with the support of the UN.
Good to see that some things never change. You are still spewing the same processed bull food on these pages as you always have.
He’s certainly disaffected enough to have motive. But I strongly doubt he’d have access to confidential diplomatic cables.
He’s a brute not a diplomat.
“He’s a brute not a diplomat”
Does not necessarily contradict. Re. Lieberman, the godfather of Israeli diplomacy 🙂
The Palestine Papers shows the extent of the contempt the PLO and Fatah leadership have for the people. Arafat their hero was nothing but a fraud and a lie. He did not sign Oslo as a first step toward ending the Israeli Occupation but a way to legitimize the Israeli Occupation and as a way to save his ass and his organization after he sided with his buddy Saddam. The PLO became the civil and security contractor for the Israeli Occupation and relieved Israel of all if its financial obligation shifting the burden of funding the occupation from Israel to the US, EU and the Gulf countries. Israel is not interested in peace and Palestinians not interested in ending the Occupation.. both Israelis and Palestinians are caught in between. Both Israeli and Palestinian leaderships are simply unfit and unqualified to deliver peace to their own people.
Bravo `aleyk ya Sami! Everything you said is right on. Oslo was nothing more than a cruel device to give the Palestinians hope while buyng the Israelis more time to establish facts on the ground that would make a Palestinian state impossible. Some of us saw that clearly at the time, others of us figured it out later, but it is a fact.