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| Erekat has participated in numerous peace negotiations with Israel. He was deputy head of the Palestinian delegation to the ] in 1991 and the 1992-1993 follow-up talks in Washington. In 1995, he served as Chief Negotiator for the Palestinians during the Oslo period, including the ] in 2000 and the negotiations at ] in 2001. He also acted as ]'s interpreter from English. When ] was nominated to serve as Prime Minister of the Palestinian Legislative Council in early 2003, Erekat was slated to be Minister of Negotiations in the new cabinet, but he soon resigned after he was excluded from a delegation to meet with Israeli Prime Minister ]. This was interpreted as part of an internal Palestinian power struggle between Abbas and Arafat.<ref name="BBC"> BBC News, ] ]</ref><ref> Jerusalem Post, ] ]</ref> Erekat was later reappointed to his post and participated in the 2007 ], where he took over from ] during an impasse and helped hammer out a joint declaration.<ref name="HaaretzJoint"></ref> | Erekat has participated in numerous peace negotiations with Israel. He was deputy head of the Palestinian delegation to the ] in 1991 and the 1992-1993 follow-up talks in Washington. In 1995, he served as Chief Negotiator for the Palestinians during the Oslo period, including the ] in 2000 and the negotiations at ] in 2001. He also acted as ]'s interpreter from English. When ] was nominated to serve as Prime Minister of the Palestinian Legislative Council in early 2003, Erekat was slated to be Minister of Negotiations in the new cabinet, but he soon resigned after he was excluded from a delegation to meet with Israeli Prime Minister ]. This was interpreted as part of an internal Palestinian power struggle between Abbas and Arafat.<ref name="BBC"> BBC News, ] ]</ref><ref> Jerusalem Post, ] ]</ref> Erekat was later reappointed to his post and participated in the 2007 ], where he took over from ] during an impasse and helped hammer out a joint declaration.<ref name="HaaretzJoint"></ref> | ||
| ==Negotiating position== | |||
| ==Controversies== | |||
| In November 2007 Erekat, part of the Israeli-Fatah negotiations team was noted by the Israeli media and criticized for stating that the Palestinians will not accept Israel as 'Jewish state'.<ref> "''Arabs never accepted the legitimacy of Zionism."'' 12 Nov 2007. Haaretz, by Barak Ravid.</ref> ], the Israeli Prime minister responded: ''"We won't hold negotiations on our existence as a Jewish state, this is a launching point for all negotiations."'' | |||
| ===Battle of Jenin controversy=== | |||
| {{Main|Battle of Jenin}} | |||
| Erekat, the most prominent representative on Western television stations for the Palestinians,<ref name="JpostPen">, ], Dec. 26, 2002 (hosted on take-a-pen.org) ()</ref> came under criticism after Palestinian spokesmen, himself included, characterized Israel's operations in Jenin as a "massacre" since its early stages.<ref name=Rice></ref><ref name="JpostPen"/><ref></ref> Erekat controversially repeated unsubstantiated claims that the Israeli army had indiscriminately massacred at least 500 Palestinian civilians in the refugee camp of ],<ref name="JpostPen">, ], Dec. 26, 2002 (hosted on take-a-pen.org) ()</ref><ref name=Rice/> and also dug graveyards and buried many people.<ref></ref> Claims which were widely refuted as being false<ref name="Qadoura56"> </ref><ref name=UN> () - Pg 11-12, Para 52-53, 56-57</ref>. Israeli media leveled the accusation that "the international press prefers hype to facts." and accused Erekat of being a liar.<ref>, ]</ref><ref name="JpostPen"/> | |||
| ===Jewish state controversy=== | |||
| Erekat, part of the Israeli-Fatah negotiations team has been noted by the Israeli media and criticized for stating in November 2007 that the Palestinians will not accept Israel as 'Jewish state' and for his radio statement that, ''"no state in the world connects its national identity to a religious identity."'' ], the Israeli Prime minister was noted replying that, ''"We won't hold negotiations on our existence as a Jewish state, this is a launching point for all negotiations,"'' while others noted the fallacy in Erekat's latter claim regarding religious identities.<ref>, (])</ref><ref></ref><ref>, ]</ref><ref>, ]</ref> | |||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 09:34, 31 December 2007
Saeb Erakat (Sa'ib Muhammad Salih 'Urayqat. Template:Lang-ar, born 1955 in Jerusalem) is the chief of the PLO Steering and Monitoring Committee. He negotiated the Oslo Accords with Israel and remained chief negotiator from 1995 until May 2003, when he resigned in protest from the Palestinian government. He quickly reconciled with his party and was reappointed to the post in September 2003. Saeb Erekat is currently part of the Israel-Fatah negotiations team working to establish a Palestinian state.
Personal life
Saeb Erekat was born on April 28 1955 in Jerusalem. He is married with twin daughters and two sons. Erekat received a BA and MA in International Relations at San Francisco State University, and he received a doctorate in Peace Studies at the University of Bradford in England. He returned to lecture in Political Science at the An-Najah National University in the West Bank town of Nablus, and also served for 12 years on the editorial board of Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds. Erekat is the author of eight books and numerous research papers on foreign policy, oil and conflict resolution. He also served as secretary general of the Arab Studies Society.
Chief Negotiator
Erekat has participated in numerous peace negotiations with Israel. He was deputy head of the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid Conference in 1991 and the 1992-1993 follow-up talks in Washington. In 1995, he served as Chief Negotiator for the Palestinians during the Oslo period, including the Camp David meetings in 2000 and the negotiations at Taba in 2001. He also acted as Yasser Arafat's interpreter from English. When Mahmoud Abbas was nominated to serve as Prime Minister of the Palestinian Legislative Council in early 2003, Erekat was slated to be Minister of Negotiations in the new cabinet, but he soon resigned after he was excluded from a delegation to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. This was interpreted as part of an internal Palestinian power struggle between Abbas and Arafat. Erekat was later reappointed to his post and participated in the 2007 Annapolis Conference, where he took over from Ahmed Qureia during an impasse and helped hammer out a joint declaration.
Negotiating position
In November 2007 Erekat, part of the Israeli-Fatah negotiations team was noted by the Israeli media and criticized for stating that the Palestinians will not accept Israel as 'Jewish state'. Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime minister responded: "We won't hold negotiations on our existence as a Jewish state, this is a launching point for all negotiations."
See also
References
- Profile: Saeb Erakat BBC News, 4 September 2003
- Q & A with Saeb Erekat Jerusalem Post, 1 February 2005
- Ha'aretz: Annapolis joint statement was completed with just minutes to spare (28 Nov 2007)
- Erekat: Palestinians will not accept Israel as 'Jewish state' "Arabs never accepted the legitimacy of Zionism." 12 Nov 2007. Haaretz, by Barak Ravid.
External links
- San Francisco State University magazine interview with Saeb Erekat
- UN Jenin reports
- JCPA Issue Brief
- CAMERA collection of accusations and quotes by palestinians regarding the Jenin raid
- EI: Media Distortions and the UN Report on Jenin