From Khalid Amayreh in occupied Palestine

In a secret recording appearing this week, Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erikat lashed out at Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas, accusing him of being too obsequious toward Israel, indecisive and compromising Palestinian national interests. (see below):

The following is a verbatim translation of the tape's contents:

They (the PA leadership) are very frustrated. Netanyahu is giving them nothing. He says Jerusalem is Israel's capital and that Hebron is in Israel's possession. Is this man going to make peace with us?

Frankly, Abu Mazen is wrong as well.

I proposed a notion (regarding peace talks with Israel). I received 13 votes and he (Abu Mazen) received 4 votes.

I told him if he wanted to get Netanyahu to be forthcoming, he should do the following: "Sign documents of us joining international organizations".

He said he was committed to do that.

"Committed to do what?"

"This is not your father's farm. This is our homeland. This is Palestine; it is bigger than any individual.

But he wouldn't listen, wouldn't listen, (which prompted me) to submit my resignation twice.

Why Netanyahu is engaging in random negotiations? Well, because he wants to build more and more settlements.

Man! This region will not see peace, stability or prosperity without Palestine having its proper place on the map. Abu Mazen, you can act, you have the possibility of (closing the gates of the world in Netanyahu's face) and make him unable to travel anywhere in the world except from Ben Gurion airport to New York. He is a war criminal a filthy and contemptible person... Let him have it from the River to the See.
Has he left any real authority for you?

"When you, Abu Mazen, travel to Amman, a sergeant from Bet El (the main headquarters of the Israeli military administration of the West Bank), asks you how many cars you want to escort you.

They humiliate you…and the Arabs don't believe you…Frankly the Arabs don't trust you, either they seek to undermine you or they are afraid of you.

For us, the authority was founded in order to take the Palestinian people from the occupation to independence. Today, Netanyahu has left you nothing, neither authority, nor government… nothing. Let him take responsibility as occupying power. According to Geneva Convention, every stone in the settlement is a war criminal!

I have nothing to lose. I was born only to put Palestine back on the map. And frankly, Palestine doesn't belong to the Palestinians alone; Palestine belongs to every Arab and Muslim.

He (Abu Mazen) is now 79, how much longer he will live? He should take a meaningful stance now to protect the national enterprise. That is all! Or perhaps he wanted to be like Bashar el-Assad and Saddam Hussein?

This pattern of thinking (on Abbas's part) is useless. There are cards in your hands, make use of them. People are slaves of their interests and states are slaves of their interests.

This Netanyahu is a contemptible dogmatist I have known him for 31 years, He won’t walk except if you beat his ass. So all that Abu Mazen has to do is sign UN membership documents and Netanyahu will become a pariah, a war criminal hounded around the world.

And don't you think that anyone loves him…Ok. We want peace and we want to reach an agreement with Israel, but Netanyahu doesn't have peace on his agenda. He is a hopeless case. I swear by God that America knows and Obama knows this fact….!

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Khalid Amayreh is a veteran Palestinian journalist living in occupied Palestine