Palestine Affairs

Meeting Minutes: Saeb Erekat, Amos Gilad and Tzipi Livni Summary   Minutes of meeting on February 11, 2008. The meeting kicked off with a discussion on security with Israeli official Amos Gilad saying "We believe in the two-state solution but security is a precondition to that." There was also discussion on the general regional security istuation, with mention of Gaza, Jordan, Iran and Iraq. Later, a discussion ensued about whether a future Palestinian state would be "demilitarized" or have "limited militarization." Full text Meeting Minutes   Jerusalem Inpal/Larome Hotel 11 February 2008 19:30 – 21:30     Attendants:   Palestinian side:  Dr. Saeb Erekat  Colonel Hazem Atallah  Salah Ilayan   Israeli side:  Tzepi Livni  Amos Gilead  Tal Beker     Livni: After I’ve read in...

NSU Email Re: "Off the Record" Details from Blair Meeting Summary   An e-mail from Rami Dajani with details from a meeting between a Russian diplomat and Tony Blair. Blair says it will take two to three years to "get anything major accomplished on the economic front," and says the lack of any political progress since Annapolis is "discouraging and will have bad consequences." The email also includes information on Russian views and chances for a Moscow conference. Full text   From: Rami Dajani Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 3:32 AM To: LPU; Andrew Kuhn (Compuserve) Subject: some "off the record" information (this is hearsay so is not confirmed and not for sharing etc)   According to a Russian diplomat who attended the Blair meeting with the Quartet on Friday:   Ultimately, the mai...

NSU Email Re: Refugees and Jerusalem Issues - Bargaining Chips Summary   Email from Ziyad Clot to NSU staff regarding strategies on refugee and Jerusalem negotiations.  Clot says that potentially damaging negotiations from Palestinians on the refugee issue (e.g. Abbas offering an extremely low proposal for the number of returnees to Israel; dangerous exchange of papers between Erekat and Becker) have led the Israelis to believe they can get a good deal on the issue.  Clot stresses that the Palestinians should hold off negotiating at all on refugees until they receive a serious commitment from Israel on negotiating Jerusalem issues.  “Abu Mazen offered an extremely low proposal for the number of returnees to Israel a few weeks only after the start of the process.” “However, in the sco...

Meeting Minutes: U.S.-Palestinian Bilateral Session Summary   Ahmed Qurei tells US officials that "nothing has happened" on the implementation of Israel's obligations under Annapolis or the Road Map. The parties go on to discuss settlements, refugees, and several other issues. Full text Minutes from Bilateral US-PAL Session Post Annapolis Wednesday, 16th July 2008, 11h00am to 1h00pm State Department, Washington, DC   Attendees: Palestinian   Ahmed Querei (AA)  Dr. Saeb Erekat (SE)  Zeinah Salahi (ZS)   United States  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (CR)  David Welsh (DW)  Jake Walles (JW)  Jonathan Shwartz (JS)   Meeting Summary (not verbatim):   CR:  I’d like to first hear where you are, then push through and try to find a way to get this done.    We see this in ...

Meeting Minutes: General Plenary Meeting Summary   Minutes of meeting where the parties primarily discuss issues related to borders and Jerusalem. Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei tells Tzipi Livni, "I would vote for you." Livni tells the PA that Olmert's offer to take 7.3% of the West Bank for Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state "is the most generous, and will be perceived by Israelis as the most fair." The Palestinian Authority asks Israel to release some prisoners because Hamas was able to get that concession in a deal with Israel and PA officials are worried about how that will affect their popular standing with the masses. Full text Attendees: Palestinian Ahmed Qurei (AA) Dr. Saeb Erekat (SE) Salah Aleyan Rami Dajani Israeli Tzipi Livni (TL)   Udi Dekel (UD) ...

Meeting Minutes: Post-Annapolis Bilaterals and Trilateral in Berlin Summary   Minutes of bilateral meetings between Israelis and Palestinians, and Palestinians and Americans, as well as a trilateral meeting with all three parties, in Berlin. Topics of discussion focused on security issues, international involvement in security mechanisms, and the impact of Hamas. Full text Minutes from Berlin Meetings Post Annapolis Tuesday, 24th June 2008 Berlin   MEETING:  BILATERAL (PALESTINIANS – ISRAELIS) Intercontinental, 11h30am   Attendees: Palestinian   Ahmed Querei (AA)  Dr. Saeb Erekat (SE)  Zeinah Salahi (ZS)   Israeli  FM Tzipi Livni (TL)  Tal Becker (TB)  Udi Dekel (UD)  Alon(?)   Meeting Summary (not verbatim):   [Meeting opens with a discussion of internal Israeli politics, ...

Meeting Minutes: Bilateral Post-Annapolis Plenary Session Summary   The two sides discuss what they call a "gap" in their positions on core issues, from security and settlements to borders, Jerusalem and refugees. Israeli official Tzipi Livni refuses to agree on the issue of "compensation for occupation," saying Israel will not pay for the damage done to the Palestinian economy as a result of her country's decades-long occupation. Livni also suggests that an Arab village in Israel, Wadi Ara, could be swapped during the negotiations and made part of a future Palestinian state. PA official Qurei says "absolutely not." Full text Minutes from Plenary Session Post Annapolis Monday, 21st June 2008, 3h00pm Inbal Hotel, room 902, West Jerusalem   Attendees: Palestinian   Ahmed Querei (AA...

Meeting Minutes: Trilateral - United States, Israel and Palestine Summary   Minutes of meeting among US, Palestinian and Israeli delegation in Jerusalem for Annapolis negotiations. The sides discuss whether they can reach an agreement before the end of 2008. The conversation primarily focused on the use 1967 borders as a baseline, East Jerusalem, settlement annexation and related issues. Full text Trilateral Meeting Minutes   Jerusalem – Inpal Hotel (Larome) 15 June 2008 16:15 – 18:15   Attendees   American side: - Condoleeza Rice  David Walsh  Eliot Abrams  Jamal Hilal   Palestinian side: - Ahmad Qurei (Abu Ala)  Dr Saeb Erekat  Salah Ilayan   Israeli side: - Tzipi Livni  Tal Becker  Udi Dekel   Rice: - I thank you for this meeting. Our last trilateral meeting was ver...

Meeting Minutes: 8th Meeting on Territory Summary   The Palestinians affirmed their position that negotiations are based on UNSCR 242 and 338, while the Israelis continued to assert their claims to land within the 1967 line and stressed they are not "giving" anything back. The Israelis backtracked on swaps and would not discuss swaps unless Ma'ale Adumim, Givat ze'ev and Ariel are discussed.  Samih Al-Abed: …[T]hese negotiations didn’t come out from a vacuum. They’ve been discussed in Camp David, Taba and Geneva. There is a history of talks. You can’t come up with a proposal as if there was nothing before. If we do not consider these talks, we cannot move forward… You exaggerated your demands on us that it is not even close to previous agreements. Udi Dekel, Israeli Official: Since 2...

Meeting Minutes: Post-Annapolis Plenary Session on Territory Summary   Minutes of a post-Annapolis plenary session on Territory. Both sides discussed news reports regarding Israel's decision to negotiate with Syria over the return of the Golan Heights. However, the majority of the conversation focused on border and territory issues, particularly those regarding East Jerusalem and No Man's Land.  The Israeli side presented their assessment of the Palestinian land swap proposal. Qurei: “There are 30,000 people in Ma’ale Adumim. They can live under Palestinian rule.” Livni: “You know this is not realistic.” Qurei: “So take them [out], like you did in Gaza.” Livni: “We are going to [take out many settlers].” Qurei: “If you want peace…I was against this, but Saeb and Samih said we should ...