Hamas Publishes Draft Platform-Leaves Recognition of Israel up to Palestinians
Al-Jazeera just posted a translation of the draft Hamas platform on its website. The articles of the platfom follow:
I. The resistance:
a. The resistance is the legitimate right of the Palestinian people.
b. The resistance is a means but not an end in itself.
c. Israel's intransigence has made all preceding negotiations fail.
II. The Right of Return:
a. Violence and force compelled the Palestinian people to give up their land.
b. The right of return is a principle recognised by all people.
c. The right of return is legitimate and cannot be renounced.
d. The right of return and reparations are a right for all Palestinians.
e. The right of return to homes and lands which Palestinians were forced to leave.
f. The right of return of all Palestinians to liberated territory without having to renounce the land they lost.
III. The truce:
a. The truce is a means to realise our national objectives.
b. The truce does not signify our abandoning the right to resist and respond to [Israeli] violations.
c. The truce is tied to conditions. If they are respected, it will endure.
d. The conditions for pursuing the truce:
1. Halt of all types of attacks against the Palestinian people.
2. Free all Palestinian prisoners.
IV. The agreements:
a. Our position concerning previous accords [concluded by the Palestinian Authority] is tied to the interests of the Palestinian people.
V. Recognition of Israel:
a. The question of recognising Israel is not the jurisdiction of one faction, nor the government, but a decision for the Palestinian people.
VI. Political negotiations [with Israel]:
a. The negotiations are a means and not an end.
b. The previous negotiations did not satisfy the minimum demands of the Palestinian people.
VII. International decisions:
a. Numerous decisions concerning the Palestinian question have not advanced the rights of the Palestinian people.
b. The Israeli occupier applies decisions which serve only Israel's interests.
Article V leaves recognition of Israel up to a vote by the Palestinian people. Hamas' attempt to skirt the issue of recognition of Israel may come back to haunt them if a poll by the Jerusalem Media & Communication Center can be believed.
As posted previously, 66% of Palestinians believe Hamas should honor all Palestinian Authority committments to negotiate with Israel. 58% of those polled stated that the solution to the Palestinian conflict should be a two-state solution. Strikingly, only 10% of those polled believed it should be a Palestinian state over the entire land.
Hamas has deferred recognizing Israel and has put it back in the hands of the Palestinians. Two outcomes are possible.
1. Palestinians vote to recognize Israel.
A vote for recognition will not only be a vote with regards to Article V of the platfom and but against other Articles of the platform as well. For example, take Article VIb. If Palestinians vote for recognition they are in effect stating that previous negotiations did satisfy the minimum demands of the Palestinian people. The same holds true for VIIa. Numerous [Internations] decisions concerning the Palestinian question have advanced the rights of the Palestinian people.
Therefore, voting for recognition, would force Hamas to moderate its stance with Israel and its platform in general. Hamas will either follow the wishes of its people or be removed from power by the people like Fatah. If they follow the wishes of the Palestinians, Israel and the US can begin resuming aid.
Any action by Hamas contrary to the wishes of the Palestinians can be used by Israel or the US to punish Hamas by withholding funding and aid. This will cause Hamas to be marginalized politically and weakened socially which will also result in them being in effect removed from power.
2. Palestinians vote not to recognize Israel.
In doing so, Hamas will feel embolded and continue its terrorist activities; thereby, maintaining its recognition as a terrorist entity which will legally prevent aid from the US and most likely the EU since the Palestinian people themselves will have chosen against recognition and in a sense for the rest of Hamas' platform.
Internationally, it can no longer be stated that not giving aid punishes the Palestinian people since they will be the ones chosing for or against recognition of Israel. Israel will have more latitude to execute its unilateral separation policies since it will not negotiate with a known terrorist group and the Palestinians will also be marginalized internationally.
Either way, the Israeli-Palestinian issue will resolve itself. A vote for recognition will cause Hamas to moderate. Given the numbers in the poll conducted by the Jerusalem Media & Communication Center, this is most likely the outcome.
A vote against recognition will cause external support to dry up causing the Palestinians to in effect fend for and provide for themselves not to mention the their loss of much international support both politically and economically.
As stated several times before, the Hamas victory was a watershed event in the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. This just goes to show that democracy is good for a country, regardless of religion. As Thomas Jefferson once said, "A little rebellion now and then... is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government." The Palestinians have just started their revolution for freedom by defeating Fatah. Their next vote will even be politically significant to their freedom. And if polls can be trusted, the Palestinians will vote for recognition of Israel and resolution of this conflict.
I. The resistance:
a. The resistance is the legitimate right of the Palestinian people.
b. The resistance is a means but not an end in itself.
c. Israel's intransigence has made all preceding negotiations fail.
II. The Right of Return:
a. Violence and force compelled the Palestinian people to give up their land.
b. The right of return is a principle recognised by all people.
c. The right of return is legitimate and cannot be renounced.
d. The right of return and reparations are a right for all Palestinians.
e. The right of return to homes and lands which Palestinians were forced to leave.
f. The right of return of all Palestinians to liberated territory without having to renounce the land they lost.
III. The truce:
a. The truce is a means to realise our national objectives.
b. The truce does not signify our abandoning the right to resist and respond to [Israeli] violations.
c. The truce is tied to conditions. If they are respected, it will endure.
d. The conditions for pursuing the truce:
1. Halt of all types of attacks against the Palestinian people.
2. Free all Palestinian prisoners.
IV. The agreements:
a. Our position concerning previous accords [concluded by the Palestinian Authority] is tied to the interests of the Palestinian people.
V. Recognition of Israel:
a. The question of recognising Israel is not the jurisdiction of one faction, nor the government, but a decision for the Palestinian people.
VI. Political negotiations [with Israel]:
a. The negotiations are a means and not an end.
b. The previous negotiations did not satisfy the minimum demands of the Palestinian people.
VII. International decisions:
a. Numerous decisions concerning the Palestinian question have not advanced the rights of the Palestinian people.
b. The Israeli occupier applies decisions which serve only Israel's interests.
Article V leaves recognition of Israel up to a vote by the Palestinian people. Hamas' attempt to skirt the issue of recognition of Israel may come back to haunt them if a poll by the Jerusalem Media & Communication Center can be believed.
As posted previously, 66% of Palestinians believe Hamas should honor all Palestinian Authority committments to negotiate with Israel. 58% of those polled stated that the solution to the Palestinian conflict should be a two-state solution. Strikingly, only 10% of those polled believed it should be a Palestinian state over the entire land.
Hamas has deferred recognizing Israel and has put it back in the hands of the Palestinians. Two outcomes are possible.
1. Palestinians vote to recognize Israel.
A vote for recognition will not only be a vote with regards to Article V of the platfom and but against other Articles of the platform as well. For example, take Article VIb. If Palestinians vote for recognition they are in effect stating that previous negotiations did satisfy the minimum demands of the Palestinian people. The same holds true for VIIa. Numerous [Internations] decisions concerning the Palestinian question have advanced the rights of the Palestinian people.
Therefore, voting for recognition, would force Hamas to moderate its stance with Israel and its platform in general. Hamas will either follow the wishes of its people or be removed from power by the people like Fatah. If they follow the wishes of the Palestinians, Israel and the US can begin resuming aid.
Any action by Hamas contrary to the wishes of the Palestinians can be used by Israel or the US to punish Hamas by withholding funding and aid. This will cause Hamas to be marginalized politically and weakened socially which will also result in them being in effect removed from power.
2. Palestinians vote not to recognize Israel.
In doing so, Hamas will feel embolded and continue its terrorist activities; thereby, maintaining its recognition as a terrorist entity which will legally prevent aid from the US and most likely the EU since the Palestinian people themselves will have chosen against recognition and in a sense for the rest of Hamas' platform.
Internationally, it can no longer be stated that not giving aid punishes the Palestinian people since they will be the ones chosing for or against recognition of Israel. Israel will have more latitude to execute its unilateral separation policies since it will not negotiate with a known terrorist group and the Palestinians will also be marginalized internationally.
Either way, the Israeli-Palestinian issue will resolve itself. A vote for recognition will cause Hamas to moderate. Given the numbers in the poll conducted by the Jerusalem Media & Communication Center, this is most likely the outcome.
A vote against recognition will cause external support to dry up causing the Palestinians to in effect fend for and provide for themselves not to mention the their loss of much international support both politically and economically.
As stated several times before, the Hamas victory was a watershed event in the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. This just goes to show that democracy is good for a country, regardless of religion. As Thomas Jefferson once said, "A little rebellion now and then... is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government." The Palestinians have just started their revolution for freedom by defeating Fatah. Their next vote will even be politically significant to their freedom. And if polls can be trusted, the Palestinians will vote for recognition of Israel and resolution of this conflict.
posted by Lieutenant Colonel Caveman at Sunday, March 12, 2006
1 Comments:
Palestinians Humiliate Themselves
In a March 16 editorial in the New York Times titled, As If That Fire Needed Fuel, the Times writes:
"Israeli Army officials ordered inmates to strip to their underwear [see photo below], which many did, marching out with clothing on their heads, an embarrassing and completely unnecessary provocation that trampled the dignity of any Palestinian watching that spectacle.
Given the humiliations that ordinary Palestinians suffer merely by trying to get through Israeli checkpoints every day, the prison raid just reinforced the already degrading reality of living under foreign occupation."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated, “What happened without a doubt is an ugly crime which can not be forgiven and a humiliation for the Palestinian people.”
Palesinians should feel humiliated. A majority of Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem support suicide terrorism. A 2001 poll by Dr. Nabil Kukali and the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO), found, "a substantial majority [of Palestinians] (76.1%) support suicidal attacks like that of Netanya [in May, 2001], whereas 12.5% oppose, and 11.4% express no opinion." A 2006 poll taken by the Jerusalem Media & Communication Center after the recent Hamas political victories found, “56.2% [of Palestinians] strongly or somewhat support suicide bombing operations against Israeli civilians whereas 40.7% oppose such operations.”
Considering that the majority of Palestinians support suicide terror, and considering that Israel prevents suicide killings on a daily basis, it should come as no surprise that captured Palestinians are asked to remove their clothes during the process of incarceration. Why should any Israeli take a chance of being blown up? Why should Israel present Palestinians with opportunities to commit suicide killings?
Palestinians should feel humiliated about their culture of death and they should be asked to strip naked during the process of incarceration as long as their population continues to support, condone, and commit suicide killings.
http://whypalestiniansgetitwrong.blogspot.com/
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