PaliLeaks and the Palestinian Honesty Gap

Khaled Abu Toameh (via Elder of Ziyon) explains the honesty gap exposed by the PaliLeaks. It says a lot that…

By Pesach Benson January 30, 2011

Khaled Abu Toameh (via Elder of Ziyon) explains the honesty gap exposed by the PaliLeaks. It says a lot that the PA can’t be straight with the Palestinian people:

It is no secret that most of the Arab governments do not represent their constituents, at least in regard to making peace with Israel. If Arab leaders seem to be more “moderate” in their views toward the Middle East peace process than their people, it is because these leaders have been telling Westerners what they like to hear.

Even if the Palestinian Authority may be a peace partner, what about the Palestinians?

. . .

If anything, Al-Jazeera’s sensationalist revelations show that Arab regimes are still afraid of telling their people the truth.

Real risks for peace are when leaders — who are democratically accountable to the public — put their careers on the line by talking straight, proposing solutions, and letting the voters decide. The PaliLeaks show that Palestinian political discourse is as dead as Palestinian democracy.

© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025

Pesach Benson

Pesach Benson

A Baltimore native, Pesach was with HonestReporting from 2011 to 2020. He edited the Israel Daily News Stream and authored the e-book, Red Lines: HonestReporting’s 8 Categories of Media Bias. Before moving to Israel in 1995, he worked as a reporter for the Baltimore Jewish Times. Pesach has a B.A. in political science from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, where he was executive editor of the campus newspaper.

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