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Sat, Feb 12, 2011 | CNN | Jerusalem Post

Saeb Erekat, former chief of the Palestinian negotiation unit

Erekat Resigns as Head Negotiation Unit, Says Arab World Needs Democracy

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has resigned as head of the PA’s negotiation unit, saying he did so because he felt responsible that documents were stolen from his office which resulted in what Al-Jazeera called ‘the Palestine Papers’.

The resignation came after an investigating committee determined that documents were leaked and stolen from Erekat’s office. Erekat said that he was simply following through on his earlier offer to quit if the Palestinian probe determined as much. But he insisted that his decision stemmed only from that fact, and his “resignation doesn’t have anything to do with the substance of negotiations”. Erekat said that a crime was committed in his office and “I could not have business as usual. This was a major breach of our national security.”

Earlier, Erekat had accused TV network Al-Jazeera of taking parts of the documents out of context and, in some cases, blatantly manipulating them. “What Al-Jazeera did was the most unfair smear campaign of taking things out of context, taking half-sentences, to score a point,” he said.

Al-Jazeera suggested that the so-called Palestine Papers showed how Palestinian negotiators offered to give up large swaths of East Jerusalem to Israel during negotiations in 2008 and that they had been willing to make concessions on the right of return of Palestinian refugees to Israel.

Erekat pointed out that topics highlighted in the Al-Jazeera coverage were more casual talking points that were part of ongoing discussions, and did not represent official Palestinian positions. Erekat insisted that the official Palestinian positions are spelled out clearly in documents that are well-known by the Israelis, Americans and numerous Arab countries, CNN reported.

Read full article here.

Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday that Erekat told Army Radio that Israelis should not be afraid of democracy in the Arab world. Democracy is the “main support system for peace,” he said. He added that the events in Egypt “mark a turning point in Arab history.” He explained that two things are needed for the region: “Peace between Israel and Palestinians, and democracy in the Arab world.”