Hamas Says Referendum on State `Might Rip Apart' Palestinians
June 11 (Bloomberg) -- Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismael Hania said a referendum called by his rival President Mahmoud Abbas on forming a state alongside Israel ``might rip the Palestinians apart.''
A ``serious constructive dialogue would be much better than the referendum,'' Hania told reporters after a three-hour meeting with Abbas last night. They are scheduled to meet again today as Abbas seeks to gain Hamas agreement on holding the vote.
Abbas called the referendum yesterday after almost two weeks of dialogue with the militant Hamas movement failed to reach an agreement on a common stance over Israel. Abbas, whose Fatah faction supports talks with Israel, shares control of the Palestinian Authority government with Hamas, which refuses to recognize the Jewish state. Hania is leader of the Hamas political party in addition to being the Palestinian Authority prime minister.
Tensions between the Fatah and Hamas factions have escalated since Abbas's group lost control of the government after January legislative elections, leading to gun battles on the streets. Early yesterday a security officer loyal to Abbas was shot and killed by anonymous gunmen.
It is unlikely that Abbas will be able to hold the referendum without Hamas support, Yahia Said, a research fellow at the London School of Economics Center for the Study of Global Governance, said in a telephone interview yesterday.
Hamas said yesterday it will seek to prevent the vote from occurring.
Israeli Air Strike
Polls indicate a majority of Palestinians support passing the referendum, which is based on a document that implicitly recognizes Israel's right to exist.
Escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence may jeopardize that support, the LSE's Said said.
Two Palestinian members of a rocket-launching team were killed in an Israeli air strike today, Palestinian security officials said. The Israeli army confirmed an ``aerial attack'' against Palestinians launching rockets after one landed next to a college in the southern town of Sderot, severely wounding a school employee. The army said in an e-mailed statement that 48 rockets were launched at Israel from Gaza from June 9.
The two individuals killed by the Israeli air strike were Hamas militants, Abu Obaida, a spokesman for Hamas's military wing, told reporters in Gaza.
The military wing of Hamas pledged yesterday to resume attacks on Israel after mostly refraining from assaults for 18 months. The Hamas turnaround came after eight civilians, including three children and their parents, were killed on a Gaza beach on June 9.
`National Accordance'
Palestinian security officials blamed Israeli artillery for the deaths. Israeli air force chief Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz said in an e-mailed statement that an investigation into the incident was underway. He said that while Israel expressed sorrow at the civilian deaths, ``this doesn't imply taking responsibility for the incident.''
The referendum called by Abbas will be on a so-called ``document of national accordance,'' based on proposals by a group of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Made public May 10, the document calls for a government that includes Hamas and Fatah, and supports the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
A poll conducted May 31-June 2 found that 77 percent of Palestinians supported a referendum if Fatah and Hamas couldn't come to an agreement based on the prisoners' document. The survey also found that 84 percent backed a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.
The poll of 1,200 adults was conducted by the Development Studies Program of Birzeit University in Ramallah and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
``If escalation between Israel and the Palestinians continues on the basis of Hamas resumption of attacks, we definitely can't take a `Yes' vote for granted,'' said LSE's Said.
A ``serious constructive dialogue would be much better than the referendum,'' Hania told reporters after a three-hour meeting with Abbas last night. They are scheduled to meet again today as Abbas seeks to gain Hamas agreement on holding the vote.
Abbas called the referendum yesterday after almost two weeks of dialogue with the militant Hamas movement failed to reach an agreement on a common stance over Israel. Abbas, whose Fatah faction supports talks with Israel, shares control of the Palestinian Authority government with Hamas, which refuses to recognize the Jewish state. Hania is leader of the Hamas political party in addition to being the Palestinian Authority prime minister.
Tensions between the Fatah and Hamas factions have escalated since Abbas's group lost control of the government after January legislative elections, leading to gun battles on the streets. Early yesterday a security officer loyal to Abbas was shot and killed by anonymous gunmen.
It is unlikely that Abbas will be able to hold the referendum without Hamas support, Yahia Said, a research fellow at the London School of Economics Center for the Study of Global Governance, said in a telephone interview yesterday.
Hamas said yesterday it will seek to prevent the vote from occurring.
Israeli Air Strike
Polls indicate a majority of Palestinians support passing the referendum, which is based on a document that implicitly recognizes Israel's right to exist.
Escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence may jeopardize that support, the LSE's Said said.
Two Palestinian members of a rocket-launching team were killed in an Israeli air strike today, Palestinian security officials said. The Israeli army confirmed an ``aerial attack'' against Palestinians launching rockets after one landed next to a college in the southern town of Sderot, severely wounding a school employee. The army said in an e-mailed statement that 48 rockets were launched at Israel from Gaza from June 9.
The two individuals killed by the Israeli air strike were Hamas militants, Abu Obaida, a spokesman for Hamas's military wing, told reporters in Gaza.
The military wing of Hamas pledged yesterday to resume attacks on Israel after mostly refraining from assaults for 18 months. The Hamas turnaround came after eight civilians, including three children and their parents, were killed on a Gaza beach on June 9.
`National Accordance'
Palestinian security officials blamed Israeli artillery for the deaths. Israeli air force chief Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz said in an e-mailed statement that an investigation into the incident was underway. He said that while Israel expressed sorrow at the civilian deaths, ``this doesn't imply taking responsibility for the incident.''
The referendum called by Abbas will be on a so-called ``document of national accordance,'' based on proposals by a group of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Made public May 10, the document calls for a government that includes Hamas and Fatah, and supports the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
A poll conducted May 31-June 2 found that 77 percent of Palestinians supported a referendum if Fatah and Hamas couldn't come to an agreement based on the prisoners' document. The survey also found that 84 percent backed a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.
The poll of 1,200 adults was conducted by the Development Studies Program of Birzeit University in Ramallah and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
``If escalation between Israel and the Palestinians continues on the basis of Hamas resumption of attacks, we definitely can't take a `Yes' vote for granted,'' said LSE's Said.
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 8:32 PM
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