The Palestinian authority believes it has traced the origin of the 1 600 confidential documents leaked to the Al-Jazeera channel.
PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat has designated Clinton Swicher (journalist at the Qatari-based news network), Alastair Crooke (former British diplomat and founder of Conflicts Forum) and Ziyad Clot (adviser to the Emir of Qatar) as the source of the leaks. The three men are exemplary activists at the service of peace and have demonstrated their integrity and courage time and again. Now, all three have had access to these documents in the past, and have already addressed the issue on the network.

The leaks correspond to files exchanged over a decade of negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian officials.

The documents reveal that the Palestinian Authority was prepared to sell off the interests of its people, but that the Israelis were impassive to their concessions - regardless of their importance - since they had no intention of giving anything in return. They also expose the Palestinian Authority’s complicity in plotting against Hamas and the population of Gaza in collusion with the Israelis and the British.

To punish the authors of the leaks, the Palestinian Authority approached their countries of origin: France, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Against all evidence, the Palestinian Authority persists in denying the authenticity of the documents and the veracity of the facts they attest to. For its part, Hamas is calling on the Palestinians to draw the political conclusions arising from these revelations.

The Al-Jazeera publications have nothing in common with the Wikileaks releases. In this case, the channel knows the sources and their motives. It can trace their origin and is in possession of complete files. It proceeded to an authenticity check which it submitted to a counter-expertise carried out by the Guardian.

THE PALESTINE PAPERS

The documents will be posted progressively by the two media outlets:
– Al Jazeera
– The Guardian