The PA blocked potential prisoner swaps that would have freed thousands of Palestinians and Shalit.
Ali Abunimah
Al-Jazeera
"For almost five years, family members of the thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails have waited in the hope that they might be reunited with their loved ones as Israel and Hamas engaged in mediated negotiations on a deal to exchange Gilad Shalit, the single Israeli prisoner of war held in the Gaza Strip, for the freedom of Palestinian prisoners.
But despite high expectations, the deal has never materialized. Analysis of secret minutes of meetings between top Israeli and Palestinian Authority (PA) officials revealed in The Palestine Papers shows that strenuous PA lobbying likely torpedoed the deal in mid-2008 with the result that far fewer Palestinian prisoners have been released by Israel.
The PA officials were concerned that an Israeli deal with Hamas would further weaken the PA and its US-supported leader Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the Fatah political faction, Hamas' main rival.
This revelation underscores the extent to which the PA was prepared to subordinate the immediate needs of Palestinians -- including prisoners and their families -- to the desperate battle with Hamas, of which they often spoke of with Israeli officials as a common enemy.
On 31 March 2008, at a meeting at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, PA negotiator Ahmed Qureia, also known as Abu 'Ala, protested to Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni that Israel was negotiating with Hamas over a prisoner swap. Livni explained, "We wanted to talk with Abu Mazen [Abbas] but he cannot release Gilead Shalit."
Qureia responded, "The release of 450 prisoners, some of whom are very important, will make Hamas appear as a hero before the public and that Abu Mazen gives speeches only." Livni again asserted, "The problem is that we are doing this because Abu Mazen is poor at marketing in the Gaza Strip. Otherwise we would have negotiated with him."...."
Ali Abunimah
Al-Jazeera
"For almost five years, family members of the thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails have waited in the hope that they might be reunited with their loved ones as Israel and Hamas engaged in mediated negotiations on a deal to exchange Gilad Shalit, the single Israeli prisoner of war held in the Gaza Strip, for the freedom of Palestinian prisoners.
But despite high expectations, the deal has never materialized. Analysis of secret minutes of meetings between top Israeli and Palestinian Authority (PA) officials revealed in The Palestine Papers shows that strenuous PA lobbying likely torpedoed the deal in mid-2008 with the result that far fewer Palestinian prisoners have been released by Israel.
The PA officials were concerned that an Israeli deal with Hamas would further weaken the PA and its US-supported leader Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the Fatah political faction, Hamas' main rival.
This revelation underscores the extent to which the PA was prepared to subordinate the immediate needs of Palestinians -- including prisoners and their families -- to the desperate battle with Hamas, of which they often spoke of with Israeli officials as a common enemy.
On 31 March 2008, at a meeting at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, PA negotiator Ahmed Qureia, also known as Abu 'Ala, protested to Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni that Israel was negotiating with Hamas over a prisoner swap. Livni explained, "We wanted to talk with Abu Mazen [Abbas] but he cannot release Gilead Shalit."
Qureia responded, "The release of 450 prisoners, some of whom are very important, will make Hamas appear as a hero before the public and that Abu Mazen gives speeches only." Livni again asserted, "The problem is that we are doing this because Abu Mazen is poor at marketing in the Gaza Strip. Otherwise we would have negotiated with him."...."
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