Palestine Papers

The Palestine Papers is a collection of confidential documents about the Israeli–Palestinian peace process leaked by Al Jazeera between 23 and 26 January 2011. Nearly 1,700 of documents from the office of the main PLO negotiator, Sa’eb Erekat, and his team have been published, dating from 1999 to 2010.

Al Jazeera and The Guardian say they have authenticated the documents, and a media adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also affirmed their authenticity. Leaders of the Palestinian Authority have complained about the way the documents were presented by al-Jazeera.

The Palestine Papers uncover documents about the negotiations between the PLO, the only recognized representative of the Palestinian people, and Israel from 1999 to 2010. The negotiations in 1993 that led to the Oslo Accords were the first direct negotiations between the parties. The following "peace process" focussed on the formation of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the territory it would govern. The PA, however, only represents the local people in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, not the Palestinians in the diaspora.

In 2011, when the Papers were published, the negotiations were in a deadlock after the refusal in September 2010 of the Benjamin Netanyahu government to extend the freeze of settlements building. Ziyad Clot, the until now only identified source, felt frustrated about the fact that the great majority of the Palestinian people, the refugees, being one of the "remaining issues" in the "peace process", were not properly represented.

The documents were obtained by Al-Jazeera and shared in advance of publication with The Guardian in an effort to ensure the wider availability of their content. The Guardian has authenticated the bulk of the Papers independently, but has not sought or been given access to the sources of the documents. Al Jazeera, which is publishing the Papers on their website, has redacted minimal parts of the papers in order to protect their sources' identities.

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