Hamas gets Ultimatum

[scribblet]

Is there hope:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...BBAS26/TPStory/

Palestinian president challenges government to recognize Israel's right to exist, or face a referendum on a two-state solution that is almost guaranteed to pass

RAMALLAH -- In a bold move, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas delivered an ultimatum to the Hamas-led government yesterday: Agree to an implicit recognition of Israel and the acceptance of a two-state solution or face a popular referendum that will almost certainly endorse the idea.

"Our cause is at stake. We cannot afford the luxury of time," Mr. Abbas said during the first day of a summit in Ramallah aimed at ending the increasingly vicious factional fighting in the Palestinian territories.

He gave parliamentarians 10 days to reach an agreement on a proposal penned by senior Hamas, Fatah and Islamic Jihad leaders being held in Israeli prisons, warning that if they fail to reach an agreement he will hold a referendum within 40 days. Analysts believe a referendum embracing a two-state solution would pass easily.

"Our stomachs are hungry, our pockets are empty," Mr. Abbas said, alluding to the cutoff of financial aid by many Western countries since Hamas was elected. "We cannot feed hungry people on slogans."

Central to Mr. Abbas's surprise plan is an 18-point proposal known as the "prisoner's document," which was put forward this month by a group of senior Palestinian faction members held in Israel's Hadarim Prison, led by popular Fatah secretary Marwan Barghouti. The plan calls for all factions to accept a two-state solution -- the future Palestine would include the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967 -- and to authorize the Palestinian Liberation Organization as the official negotiating body.

Acceptance of the plan would imply Hamas's recognition of Israel's right to exist. However, it is unlikely to be accepted by Israeli negotiators, who intend to keep major settlement blocks in the West Bank and Jerusalem as an undivided capital.

(Israel demonstrated some concern for Mr. Abbas himself yesterday, by agreeing to allow weapons to be transferred to his personal guards, Reuters reported. Growing violence between his supporters and Hamas has fuelled fears that Mr. Abbas may be targeted, according to Israeli spokesmen.)

-snip

Behind closed doors: the prisoners' document

RAMALLAH. The 18-point document that may pull the Palestinian Authority out of a quagmire of political division and street violence was sketched out behind the walls and barbed wire of an Israeli prison.

-snip-.

The proposal does not specifically renounce violence, instead affirming Palestinians' "right to resistance" concentrated in the occupied territories. But, significantly, the document is a public endorsement of a two-state solution signed by a senior Hamas leader. Hamas is under heavy international pressure to renounce violence, abide by previous peace agreements and recognize Israel's right to exist, conditions that have brought about the economic blockade of its government.