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Abbas ultimatum on peace
The Palestinian president has set a deadline for agreement on seeking a settlement with Israel - and will call a referendum if none is reached.
Mahmoud Abbas told delegates at a meeting attended by Hamas and his own Fatah movement on Tuesday that he would give them up to 10 days to reach agreement before calling for a popular vote.
Abbas said: "If you do not reach agreement by then, I would like to tell you frankly that I will put this document to a referendum. This is not a threat."
The plan was drawn up by members of both Fatah and Hamas who are jailed by Israel.
It calls for resistance to the continuing Israeli occupation, but allows for a negotiated settlement if Israel withdraws fully from West Bank land it has occupied since 1967. It would involve Israel removing all settlements from the West Bank.
It also calls for a unity government and for Jerusalem to be the capital of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.
Many Palestinian factions support the plan, but senior Hamas leaders have not yet signed up to it. Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, does not recognise Israel, which is implicit in the proposal being put forward.
In the draft government programme posted on Hamas's website in March, the group said it believed the issue of recognising Israel was a matter for the Palestinian people to decide, not merely one faction or another.
National dialogue talks
Abbas gave his ultimatum at a two-day "national dialogue" meeting at which the rival Palestinian factions had pledged to set aside their differences.
The meeting followed weeks of tension between Hamas and the rival Fatah movement since Hamas took office in March. Before Hamas's rise, Fatah was the dominant Palestinian political force.
At the talks, Ismail Haniya, the prime minister and Hamas leader, said: "Our meeting today aims to cement our national unity."
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AEDC3E00-D356-4036-AA0A-31D97C51A4B9.htm
Abbas said: "If you do not reach agreement by then, I would like to tell you frankly that I will put this document to a referendum. This is not a threat."
The plan was drawn up by members of both Fatah and Hamas who are jailed by Israel.
It calls for resistance to the continuing Israeli occupation, but allows for a negotiated settlement if Israel withdraws fully from West Bank land it has occupied since 1967. It would involve Israel removing all settlements from the West Bank.
It also calls for a unity government and for Jerusalem to be the capital of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.
Many Palestinian factions support the plan, but senior Hamas leaders have not yet signed up to it. Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, does not recognise Israel, which is implicit in the proposal being put forward.
In the draft government programme posted on Hamas's website in March, the group said it believed the issue of recognising Israel was a matter for the Palestinian people to decide, not merely one faction or another.
National dialogue talks
Abbas gave his ultimatum at a two-day "national dialogue" meeting at which the rival Palestinian factions had pledged to set aside their differences.
The meeting followed weeks of tension between Hamas and the rival Fatah movement since Hamas took office in March. Before Hamas's rise, Fatah was the dominant Palestinian political force.
At the talks, Ismail Haniya, the prime minister and Hamas leader, said: "Our meeting today aims to cement our national unity."
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AEDC3E00-D356-4036-AA0A-31D97C51A4B9.htm
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The ultimatum appeared intended to push Hamas - which refuses to recognise Israel even after winning the general election in January - into a moderating its stance by agreeing to talks with Israel if it withdraws to its pre-1967 borders.
Mahmoud Abbas's initiative followed a meeting in the West Bank between leaders of Hamas and the Fatah party, headed by Mr Abbas, who was elected separately last year.
Tensions between the two sides have turned violent this month, with nine people killed in clashes between armed members of Hamas and Palestinian security forces controlled by Fatah. The fighting has sparked fears of civil war.
A referendum would, in effect, ask the Palestinian people whether they supported a two-state solution to the conflict. Although Hamas has softened its position slightly since being elected, it has refused to explicitly give up its demand for an Islamic state taking in the present Palestinian territories and all of Israel.
Mr Abbas warned that if no deal was reached, he would ask the Palestinian people to give their backing to a five-page document outlining a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem as the goal of peace talks with Israel. The plan implies a de facto recognition of Israel.
"If you don't reach an agreement within 10 days, I'm going to present the document to a referendum in 40 days. Within 40 days I will ask the people," Mr Abbas told a gathering at his headquarters in Ramallah.
If a referendum was held and the plan accepted, it would be a blow to Hamas - though it would also offer the group an opportunity to moderate its hardline stance on Israel.
Speaking to reporters after his speech, Mr Abbas said he was not trying to push Hamas into a corner, just to end the deadlock. "The situation is getting more dangerous. The whole nation is in danger. We can't wait for the rest of our lives."
Hamas officials, including the parliamentary speaker, Abdel Aziz Duaik, said they were receptive to the idea.
As well as trying to end the violence, Mr Abbas is keen to repair divisions in the Palestinian leadership at a potentially crucial time, when Israel is attempting to finally fix its borders in the West Bank.
Addressing a joint session of the US Congress in Washington yesterday, the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said he wanted to work with the Palestinians but could not wait "forever", warning that his country would draw its own borders if necessary.
At the joint meeting earlier today, the Palestinian prime minister and Hamas member, Ismail Haniyeh, called for "national unity".
He said the two groups would act to prevent violence getting out of control: "We are not going to engage in a Palestinian-Palestinian conflict."
But Mr Haniyeh also insisted that his government would not compromise politically to try to end an economic boycott of the Palestinian Authority.
"I want to assure here, and make it clear for all parties, that the Palestinian government and the Palestinian people will not make any compromise that harms the Palestinian goals and rights," he said.
The US and EU have frozen funding for the Palestinian Authority since the election, saying that Hamas - which both consider to be a terrorist organisation - must renounce its call for the destruction of Israel.
Since Hamas was elected, Mr Abbas has worked hard to ensure he maintains control of Palestinian security forces. Hamas has responded by sending its own militants, answerable to the cabinet rather than the presidency, into the streets of Gaza.
Yesterday, a security forces area commander and ally of Mr Abbas died when his car was blown up in Gaza City.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1782880,00.html