Al-Jazeera, the news agency back by Qatar, was condemned yesterday by senior Palestinian leaders, as well as crowds of protestors who gathered yesterday outside the satellite channel’s headquarters in the West Bank and vandalized the building. The condemnation and protests came on the heels of a report on leaked documents by the news agency that indicated that Palestinian leaders had offered fairly massive concessions in peace talks with Israel in 2008. The reports specifically indicated that Palestinian leaders had caved on two important issues, including Jerusalem and what resolution would be offered for Palestinian refugees.
A top aid to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke to the media yesterday and noted that the Al-Jazeera network was stooping to "media games to trick and mislead the simple citizen." The spokesperson also rounded criticized Qatar itself, the country that financially supports the Al-Jazeera network. He added, "What Al-Jazeera is doing today is an attempt to distort the national position of the Palestinian leadership." Perhaps most damning were comments that the information presented by the station were knowingly and willfully being taken out of context.
The spokesperson noted that Al-Jazeera could take leaked documents and then "draw conclusions, counterfeit documents and change texts, cut a word here and there and put together images of people with no relationship to negotiations." It is not the first time that Palestinian leaders have bickered with the station, which often embraces views that are espoused and supported by Hamas, a rival group to the Palestinian leadership that will accept no compromises in the peace talks with Israel.
Without Egypt, Israel will be left with no friends in Mideast ...
Without Egypt's Mubarak and with relations with Turkey in shambles, Israel will be forced to court new potential allies.
A top aid to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke to the media yesterday and noted that the Al-Jazeera network was stooping to "media games to trick and mislead the simple citizen." The spokesperson also rounded criticized Qatar itself, the country that financially supports the Al-Jazeera network. He added, "What Al-Jazeera is doing today is an attempt to distort the national position of the Palestinian leadership." Perhaps most damning were comments that the information presented by the station were knowingly and willfully being taken out of context.
The spokesperson noted that Al-Jazeera could take leaked documents and then "draw conclusions, counterfeit documents and change texts, cut a word here and there and put together images of people with no relationship to negotiations." It is not the first time that Palestinian leaders have bickered with the station, which often embraces views that are espoused and supported by Hamas, a rival group to the Palestinian leadership that will accept no compromises in the peace talks with Israel.
Without Egypt, Israel will be left with no friends in Mideast ...
Without Egypt's Mubarak and with relations with Turkey in shambles, Israel will be forced to court new potential allies.
