Abbas Calls For Referendum On Statehood

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The New York Sun

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday he will call a national referendum on accepting a Palestinian Arab state alongside Israel if Hamas does not agree to the idea within 10 days.

Mr. Abbas’s surprise announcement was a political gamble that could either help resolve the Palestinian Arabs’ internal deadlock or lead them into a deeper crisis with the terrorist Hamas group.

Such a vote would effectively ask Palestinian Arabs to give implicit recognition to Israel by accepting a Palestinian state on land occupied by Israel in 1967. Approval of the 18-point plan would provide a way out of the impasse over acceptance of Israel, which has led to an international freeze on aid to the Hamas-led government.

Hamas officials were divided over the idea of a referendum, with several giving their blessing, but others dismissing it as an attempt to undercut the Hamas-led government.

A referendum, which Palestinian Arab pollsters expect to pass, could provide cover for the militants to moderate without appearing to succumb to Western pressure. Such a vote could also renew pressure on Israel to return to the negotiating table rather than imposing borders on the Palestinian Arabs.

However, the director of the Palestinian election commission, Amar Duaik, said calling a referendum might not be easy. He said the parliament would have to pass a referendum law or Mr. Abbas would have to issue a presidential decree.

“If there is no agreement [between Hamas and Fatah], I expect to have troubles and differences,” Mr. Duaik said.

Mr. Abbas said that if 10 days of dialogue between Hamas and his Fatah movement did not lead to a joint political platform, he would call a referendum 40 days after that. The dialogue began yesterday.

The referendum would ask Palestinian Arabs to either accept or reject a document that had been drafted earlier this month by senior Palestinian militants jailed in Israel. The five-page document calls for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza, and east Jerusalem, the areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War.

The draft was negotiated by leading prisoners from Hamas and Fatah over the period of four weeks at Israel’s Hadarim Prison, where a top Fatah prisoner, Marwan Barghouti, is being held.

The talks took place in a wing for Palestinian Arab security prisoners, where 120 inmates are held, Mr. Barghouti’s lawyer, Khader Shkirat, said.


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