Palestinian Prisoners' Document

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The "Prisoners' document" is a document drawn up by Palestinian prisoners who are currently being held in Israeli jails. There were five prisoners who took part in writing this document and are affiliated with Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).

The document consists of 18 points, and calls for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders and the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza strip. The initial version of the document has generally been interpreted as implicitly recognizing Israel's right to exist, as opposed to the official Hamas platform, which calls for Israel's destruction. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had called for a national referendum on the document on July 26, if Fatah and Hamas could not reach a negotiated settlement.^[1] Initially, Hamas leaders dismissed Abbas' calls for a referendum on the document as "illegal" and vowed to boycott it.^[2] However, Hamas later agreed to negotiate with Fatah on the contents of the document, and an agreement was reached on June 27, 2006.^[3]^[4] A poll in June 2006, showed that support for the prisoners' document among the Palestinians was at 77%.^[5] However, another poll in late June 2006, showed support for the referendum itself at only 47%.^[6] Prior to this agreement being reached, Hamas and Islamic Jihad prisoner's who took part in drafting the document retracted their names and support from it in protest at Mahmoud Abbas' decision to hold a referendum based on the plan; they stated that Mahmoud Abbas was exploiting the document for political purposes.^[7]

President Mahmoud Abbas seeks use the Prisoner's document as the basis for final status negotiations with Israel. Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has dismissed the Prisoner's document, however,^[8] claiming that it is out of touch with the internationally recognized conditions, as the document also calls for the right of return for Palestinian refugees, as well as full Israeli withdrawal from all parts of the West Bank.

1 Controversy and Ambiguity
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Controversy and Ambiguity

Much of the so-called controversy regarding the Prisoner's Document refers to subtle misunderstandings about whether the Prisoner's Document recognizes Israel and her government. In actuality, the Prisoner's Document makes no mention of this point whatsoever.

While the Prisoner's Document does not explicitly or otherwise recognize the right of Israel and her government to exist, it does explicitly embrace the idea of a Palestinian state solely on pre-1967 boundaries; in Point #1: "The Palestinian people in the homeland and in the Diaspora seek ...to establish their independent state with al-Quds al-Shareef as its capital on all territories occupied in 1967".

In the past Hamas has advocated for a Palestinian state in the 1948 boundaries presently occupied by the state of Israel as well as the 1967 occupied territories. Thus the Prisoner's Document represents a historical renunciation (and political commitment) by Hamas of their previous claim to a Palestinian state on land in which the Israeli state legally resides.