Over the last several months, Al Jazeera has been given unhindered access to the largest-ever leak of confidential documents related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are nearly 1,700 files, thousands of pages of diplomatic correspondence detailing the inner workings of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

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THE PALESTINE PAPERS

SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM FOR MONDAY POSTS FROM ALJAZEEERA.

Al Jazeera and the Guardian UK are all over the release today, Sunday January 23, 2011, of the first of almost 1700 diplomatic cable leaks pertaining to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and so far everything smacks of subservience, arrogance and connivance on the part of, respectively, the three main actors who are play-acting at resolving the decades old conflict: the Palestinian Authority, the Israelis and the American government. We are reminded of three scorpions in a bottle, or maybe that should be two spiders and a fly on a web, with the Palestinian Authority reprising the role of the fly in the Vincent Price thriller of the same name (remember this?). It is doubtful whether the Palestinian Authority can survive all these revelations as the Palestinian people and larger Muslim world learn about them, in particular the cavalier attitude with which the Palestinian Authority was willing to negotiate on the sovereignty of the Haram ash-Sharif in Jerusalem (the Temple Mount) , which is a bit like the mayor of Rome trying to sell the Vatican to a contractor who wants to build condos and a Freemason temple on top of the torn-down site.

Because Al Jazeera is the primary recipient of all these leaks and is sharing them with the Guardian, I am going to provide some excerpts from the Al Jazeera website exposing this tawdry treasure trove of documents, but really, you, the reader need to go online and check out the entire webpage for these first revelations, including analysis by their pundits.

From Al Jazeera:

Over the last several months, Al Jazeera has been given unhindered access to the largest-ever leak of confidential documents related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are nearly 1,700 files, thousands of pages of diplomatic correspondence detailing the inner workings of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. These documents, memos, e-mails, maps, minutes from private meetings, accounts of high level exchanges, strategy papers and even power point presentations date from 1999 to 2010.

The material is voluminous and detailed; it provides an unprecedented look inside the continuing negotiations involving high-level American, Israeli, and Palestinian Authority officials.

Al Jazeera will release the documents between January 23-26th, 2011. They will reveal new details about:

• the Palestinian Authority's willingness to concede illegal Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem, and to be "creative" about the status of the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount;
• the compromises the Palestinian Authority was prepared to make on refugees and the right of return;
• details of the PA's security cooperation with Israel;
• and private exchanges between Palestinian and American negotiators in late 2009, when the Goldstone Report was being discussed at the United Nations.

Because of the sensitive nature of these documents, Al Jazeera will not reveal the source(s) or detail how they came into our possession. We have taken great care over an extended period of time to assure ourselves of their authenticity.

We believe this material will prove to be of inestimable value to journalists, scholars, historians, policymakers and the general public.

We know that some of what is presented here will prove controversial, but it is our intention to inform, not harm, to spark debate and reflection, not dampen it. Our readers and viewers will note that we have provided a comments section in which to express opinions. In keeping with our editorial policies, we reserve the right to excise comments that we deem inappropriate, but all civil voices will be heard, all opinions respected.

We present these papers as a service to our viewers and readers as a reflection of our fundamental belief that public debate and public policies grow, flourish and endure when given air and light.

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Excerpt from "The biggest Yerushalayim in Jewish history":

The controversy came last year, when the Jerusalem municipality approved 1,600 new housing tenders while Joe Biden, the US vice-president, was visiting Israel. But construction has yet to begin, and residents of this settlement populated mostly by Orthodox Jews, a group with one of the highest birth rates in Israel say politics are interfering with family life.

"It shouldn't be a question of politics," said Avraham Goldstein, a student waiting at a bus stop in the settlement. "People need to build, they want to have their families nearby. There are more than 18,000 people here. And Ramat Shlomo is obviously part of Jerusalem."

The US responded to the Ramat Shlomo announcement with anger; Biden said it "undermines the kind of trust we need" to restart talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).

But The Palestine Papers reveal that Israel had no reason to halt construction in Ramat Shlomo. That's because Palestinian negotiators agreed in 2008 to allow Israel to annex this settlement, along with almost every other bit of illegal construction in the Jerusalem area an historic concession for which they received nothing in return.

(continued, see the full article HERE)

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Excerpt from Erekat's solution for the Haram:

Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator of the Palestinian Authority (PA), had suggested unprecedented compromises on the division of Jerusalem and its holy sites, the Palestine Papers obtained by Al Jazeera show.

Minutes of negotiations at the US State Department in Washington DC indicate that Erekat was willing to concede control over the Haram al-Sharif, or Temple Mount, to the oversight of an international committee.

The highly controversial issue of who controls the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), home of the Al Aqsa mosque - Islam's third holiest site - has been a major sticking point during decades of negotiations between Israelis and the Palestinians.

Israel calls the Haram al-Sharif the "Temple Mount" because Jews believe it was the site of the Second Temple destroyed during Roman times. In recent years, Jewish settler groups -" some with close ties to the Israeli government -" have advocated building a "Third Temple", which would necessitate the destruction of the existing Muslim holy sites.

The site has often been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On October 8, 1990, Israeli forces shot dead 21 Palestinian civilians at the Haram al-Sharif. The Palestinians, whom Israel said were throwing stones at Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall below the Haram, were protesting plans by a settler group called the Temple Mount Faithful to lay a cornerstone for the Third Temple.

Palestinians have accused Israel of trying to undermine the foundations of the al-Aqsa mosque through what Israel describes as archaeological excavations. In September 1996, Israel opened what it called a tourist tunnel along the foundations of the Haram, touching off violence that left dozens of people dead -" the vast majority of them Palestinians.

In September 2000, Ariel Sharon, the then-Israeli opposition leader, visited the Haram al-Sharif accompanied by hundreds of armed Israeli police. Palestinian protests at what was seen as a provocation, and Israel's armed response to them, marked the beginning of the second Palestinian Intifada.

(continued, see the full article HERE)

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Also see The "napkin map" revealed :

The Palestine Papers include a rendering of the Israeli land swap map presented in mid-2008 to Mahmoud Abbas.

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There will be more releases in the following days.

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MONDAY'S RELEASES:

Expelling Israel's Arab population?

PA selling short the refugees

Deep frustrations with Obama

Qurei to Livni: "I'd vote for you"

A dangerous shift on 1967 lines

Misunderstanding Israeli motives

"We can't refer to the past"

Authors Bio:
I am a student of history, religion, exoteric and esoteric, the Humanities in general and a tempered advocate for the ultimate manifestation of peace, justice and the unity of humankind through self-realization and mutual respect, although I am not a pacifist, nor do I believe in peace at any price, which is no peace at all but only delays inevitable conflict. There are times when the world must act. Planetary consciousness is evolving, but there are many retrograde forces that would drag us back down.

I have also written one book, a combination of poetry, photography and essays entitled "Post Katrina Blues", my reflections on the Gulf Coast and New Orleans two years after Katrina struck. Go to the store at http://sanfranciscobaypress.com/ to purchase. And I also have a blog called Plutonian Mac.