The Palestine Papers: So What?

So the Palestinian Authority and its Fatah cadres are having a hissy fit over a slew of documents leaked to…

By Pesach Benson January 24, 2011

So the Palestinian Authority and its Fatah cadres are having a hissy fit over a slew of documents leaked to Al-Jazeera and then shared with The Guardian.

Big yawn.

The whole leak is just a localized version of Wikileaks, ultimately more embarrassing for the Palestinians than for Israel, though there’s plenty of room to ruminate “What if . . .” In due time, the PA will surely retaliate against Al-Jazeera, and perhaps (but less likely) against The Guardian too.

It’s worth keeping an eye on — watching the Palestinian powers-that-be scurry to cover themselves will be more interesting than two weeks of Super Bowl hype. But beyond all that?

Big deal.

UPDATE 11:51 a.m.: The Jerusalem Post reports that the PA’s already considering action against Al Jazeera. Khaled Abu Toameh writes:

Asked if the PA was now considering measures against Al-Jazeera, the official said he did not see how a TV station that “incites” against the Palestinians would be able to continue operating in the West Bank.

Last but not least, you gotta love anything that has George Galloway this upset.

© 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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