Palestinians to hold July 26 referendum; would implicitly recognize Israel ,Referedum during a Civil War WWW.PROISRAELFOREVER.COM
- From: proisraelforever@xxxxxxx
- Date: 10 Jun 2006 11:46:26 -0700
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared Saturday he would hold a
referendum July 26 on the establishment of a Palestinian state
alongside Israel.
Abbas made the declaration despite pleas by the ruling Hamas party to
hold off on the vote and rising military tensions in the area. Some
observers say Abbas should win a clear majority in support of the
referendum question, which would implicitly recognize the right of
Israel to exist.
Although the referendum could further increase tensions on Gaza's
streets - where gunmen from the governing Hamas party and Abbas' Fatah
organization have fought each other - Abbas made clear that if the
sides reach an agreement even one day before the vote he will call it
off.
Immediately after the announcement, Abbas headed to the volatile Gaza
Strip where he planned to call on the factions to renew their dialogue,
Abbas' spokesman Yasser Abed Rabbo said.
Abbas' declaration on Saturday followed through on an ultimatum he gave
late last month in which he told the Palestinian factions, including
Hamas, they would have 10 days to agree to a document that implicitly
recognizes Israel or he would bring the issue to a referendum.
Tensions between the sides have been increasing since Hamas, which won
a January parliamentary election, took power in March. Abbas, elected
separately, still wields considerable authority.
The talks on the document quickly reached a dead end, and violence in
Gaza between Fatah and Hamas has raged.
Hamas, sworn to Israel's destruction, refuses to recognize the Jewish
state. Canada, the United States and other western countries have said
they will continue an economic stranglehold on the Palestinian
Authority unless Hamas recognizes Israel, renounces violence and
accepts past peace agreements.
The referendum will ask the Palestinians whether they accept the
so-called Prisoners' Document, which was put together by leaders of the
different Palestinian factions held in Israeli jails.
The document says the Palestinians should establish a state on lands
Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. The voters will be asked to
answer yes or no, the presidential decree said.
Should Hamas sign on to the document, it would have to set aside its
goal of destroying Israel to form a Palestinian state on the entire
territory.
Hamas leaders have said that they accept the establishment of Israel
within borders that existed before the 1967 Mideast War, and that the
dialogue broke down over other issues. Abbas repeatedly refused to
change the document to meet Hamas' demands, insisting the Islamic group
accept it as is.
.
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