generalspeaking

'Bye, 'Bye, Saeb...

It upsets the fastidious mind convinced in black and white, resistant to distracting grays, that reality contains nuances of interpretation and truth is not what it is claimed to be but rather more complex at times. When negotiations can take place in their absence of attention that brings the embarrassment of not quite being in the loop. Particularly when you pride yourself in being the Palestinian Authority's top negotiator without whom proceedings would languish.

And then to discover that you are in fact, a useful tool, one to whom not all the niceties of negotiation are made available, when you've already obligated yourself to sever connections to the process should the documents latterly publicized contain one iota of fact, you are left with no option but to quit in high dudgeon. Which is precisely what Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat did, upon learning the unequivocal truth.

It was, as it happened, the Al-Jazeera leaks scandal, those pestiferous leaked documents when the Arab station gleefully and with malign purpose aforethought, published what some deem as proof of the PA's perfidious attempts to placate the State of Israel at expense of the nascent Palestinian state. Concessions that were geared to make an agreement more palatable than heretofore.

In actual fact, quite sensible concessions. Which, if it is true the Palestinian Authority gave secret assurances to the Israeli negotiating team outside the knowledge of their chief negotiator must have seemed a humiliating experience for Mr. Erekat. Presumably, the PA at the highest level thought it a good idea to proffer those concessions.

Of course now that they've been made public and caused much consternation as a result, to the PA elite, they have been denied, and characterized as grievous mischief. No compromise on the 'law of return', on control of Jerusalem, on inalienable rights and borders, none, none whatever. Which is the compelling reason, needless to say, that those miserably drawn-out and frustrating negotiations have gone precisely nowhere.

A shred of intelligence was manifested and shared among the PA elite who perhaps have themselves grown weary of interminable negotiations that have led nowhere. And with the urging of the U.S. administration to find solutions to these intractable and horribly vexing disagreements, it is entirely feasible that the PA made a concerted effort to appear more reasonably flexible. One might assume that flexibility would be reciprocated.

But alas, while denying, denying, denying, a shamefaced Erekat who either knew or did not know what was happening when it was happening; was part of the critical negotiating efforts or was not, that the documents were purloined was someone's responsibility and likely his. Perfectly innocent documents were somehow lost or lifted then altered for the very purpose of bringing shame to the PA and the negotiating team.

And he would not stand for it, never. It also wasn't true that the PA secretly urged the IDF to enter Gaza and rout Hamas so Fatah could be returned to governing the territory. And it's clear that Hamas doesn't credit that Fatah could sink that low as to collude with an (Jewish entity) enemy for the purpose of destroying another (Arab) enemy. So Hamas is chortling with delight at the discomfiture brought to the PA by Al-Jazeera's revelations.

Mr. Erekat has distinguished himself in his anguished anger of sprinkling ample blame around for the contretemps; not only were Israel and the U.S. responsible for the Al-Jazeera report, but Qatar from whence the news empire comes is guilty too of consorting with the enemy. His wrath will not be appeased.

Beet-red from shrinking shame or apoplectic anger, what's the difference.

Labels: Middle East, Particularities/Peculiarities, Peace

posted by Pieface @ Sunday, February 13, 2011