The Palestine Papers
A glimpse into the negotiation room
Playful banter, inappropriate jokes and bizarre rants: We take you through the
"lighter side" of The Palestine Papers.
Laila Al-Arian Last Modified: 26 Jan 2011 19:42 GMT
When it comes to negotiations, the public is rarely privy to what happens
during the countless meetings that precede political agreements and the
much-publicized handshakes that seal them. But The Palestine Papers give us an
inside look into the negotiating room, documenting playful banter,
inappropriate jokes and bizarre rants in dozens of meetings between Israeli and
Palestinian negotiators during the Annapolis process. The papers also reveal
the complicated relationships between officials from both sides, while
illuminating how they deal with roadblocks.
One such obstacle emerged during a contentious meeting on May 29, 2008 at the
King David Hotel in West Jerusalem, when Israeli negotiators refused to discuss
one of the conflict's core issues, the status of Jerusalem. Samih Al-Abed, the
Palestinian Authority's map expert, tells Udi Dekel, a senior adviser to
then-Israeli Prime Minster Ehud Olmert: "We can't go forward without Jerusalem
on the table."
After a futile back and forth about what can and cannot be discussed and what
was and was not agreed to, Dekel says, "I do not have permission to discuss
Jerusalem without knowing what arrangements will be in Jerusalem." Al-Abed
replies that his boss, senior Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei, said the
Palestinian side "cannot discuss Ma'ale Adumim," the large and illegal Israeli
settlement near Jerusalem.
"So let's eat lunch together," Dekel responds, "and let them [leaders] decide
what to do." Just before that, as the group reached an impasse in the
discussion, Dekel suggests: "We should eat the food and enjoy ourselves."
"I wish I were a refugee"
Rather than break early for lunch, on other occasions, negotiators tried to
resolve disagreements by offering in earnest what, to some, might sound like
outlandish suggestions. Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was the
source of one such proposal during a meeting on July 30, 2008 at the State
Department. Rice kicked off the session by asking for a progress report on the
points of agreement between the parties. After a quick update from Qurei and
Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, the latter said that some major decisions
had not been reached as far as how a future state of Palestine would look. "We
need to know how it is going to work," she said, "The Airport and Seaport."
Addressing the Palestinians, Rice then dropped this bombshell: "[Y]our airspace
is so small - put it in Jordan." The Palestinian negotiators appeared shocked
at the suggestion that they use a sovereign country's airspace as their own.
Just under Rice's comment, the Palestinian note taker wrote in brackets:
"Discussion on whether this is a joke or a real option. Tzipi Livni and
Condoleezza Rice clearly think it is realistic as an option."
Sometimes there's no doubt that the speaker is joking, but whether the joke is
tasteful is another matter. During a highly-technical August 2008 meeting on
refugees, negotiators parsed the language of two drafts (prepared by each side)
of a potential refugee settlement. As the summit drew to a close, Livni's legal
adviser Tal Becker turned to his counterpart Ziyad Clot, and had this to say:
Becker: You know. No disrespect for the previous negotiation teams on
refugees. But, Ziyad, I really think that you make a big difference on this
file. There has never been in depth discussion on refugees in the past and my
feeling is that the Palestinian refugees have never been so well-defended. To
speak frankly, when I see this, I wish I were a refugee."
Clot: I don't think you meant what you just said.
Becker: I was joking. Sorry.
A few months earlier, on February 11, it was Livni who was in a joking mood.
During an otherwise serious meeting about regional security, the subject of
Jordan came up in a discussion about whether a future Palestinian state would
be de-militarized. "What do you want from Jordan?" Qurei asked the Israelis. "A
Palestinian state," Livni responded. "This is a joke. I didn't mean that."
Exactly a week earlier, as the two sides discussed Hamas' control of Gaza,
there was this exchange:
Qurei: Do you remember Rabin's saying: "I hope to sleep and wake up and see
that the sea has swallowed Gaza."
Livni: We've a saying too. When you want to curse somebody you tell him "Go
to hell" but we shorten it and say "Go to Gaza."
But the exchanges weren't always awkward. On June 30, 2008, as Livni was
gearing up to run in the Kadima party's leadership election, Qurei said
fawningly, "I would vote for you." A few months before that Qurei had similarly
sweet words for Rice, telling her, "You bring back life to the region when you
come."
Throughout the talks, some of the officials didn't seem to lose sight of their
own importance. Two months after the Annapolis summit that helped kick off the
new round of negotiations, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said,
"Whoever will be able to reach an agreement to solve this conflict will be the
most important figure in the region after Jesus Christ!"
But just three months later, Erekat seemed beaten down by the demands of
duplicity that are often intrinsic to the negotiating process. Here's what he
told Israeli officials on May 11, 2008:
Erekat: I'm lying, I've been lying for the last weeks.
Yossi Gal: Between jogging?
Erekat: No, no, lying, lying. I was in Cairo, I was in Jordan, I was in
America. Everybody is asking me what is going on Israel, what is Olmert going
to do?
Gal: And you are telling everyone we are on the verge of success.
Erekat: And I always tell them this is an internal Israeli matter, a
domestic Israeli matter and I keep lying. If somebody sneezed in Tel-Aviv, I
get the flu in Jericho, and I have to lie. So that's my last week- all lies.
Gal: As a professor of negotiations, you know that white lies are allowed
now and then.
Erekat: I'm not complaining, I'm admitting and sometimes I don't feel
like lying.
Gal: Well, around this table we won't be lying.
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