Palestinians Scoff at Reported U.S. Plan for Israel to Lease East Jerusalem

Palestinians dismissed a reported U.S. offer that Israel lease lands in east Jerusalem from a future Palestinian state. Saab ‘Ariqat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said in a statement saying that “the land of Palestine is not for rent.” According to the London-based Arabic-language Al-Sharq Al-Aswak daily, Washington proposed Israel rent some of the lands for between 40 to 99 years. The daily said the proposal had been part of “secret” discussions to try and find common ground for negotiations in order to resume direct peace talks. Palestinians have dismissed the idea as “trial balloons.”