The
Palestinian General Committee, charged with drafting a Palestinian constitution,
met in Cairo Dec. 16, 2002, after drawing up the first draft of the Palestinian
constitution.
On the same day, Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian Authority Planning Minister and
Head of the committee, granted an interview to the "Islam on-line" website.
Following are excerpts from the interview:
"The constitution deals with the issue of a Palestinian state and not the
[Palestinian] Authority. The plan will be presented to the people in a popular
referendum, after having been approved by the Palestinian National Council (the
legislative body of the PLO)."
According to Shaath, "Even Palestinians living outside of Palestine will be able
to take part in the referendum."
In response to criticism on the subject of drafting a constitution emanating
from the Hamas movement, Shaath declared, " The draft did
not clearly define the borders of the Palestinian
State.Rather it defined a Palestinian state for the
Palestinian people, with Jerusalem as its capital. It states that every
Palestinian with Palestinian parents who lived in Palestine before 1948 is
considered a citizen of the Palestinian State. This, regardless of whether they
lived within the borders of 1948 (the territorial borders of Israel) in the West
Bank, the Gaza Strip or in refugee camps in neighboring countries. Every
Palestinian refugee has the right of return [to Palestine]."
The Original
December 28th, 2002
Khaled
Mashal, a senior leader of the movement and head of the political wing, stressed
the dedication of the Hamas to continue its struggle against Israel until "the
entire territory of Palestine" is liberated, in an interview with the newspaper
Al-Hayat, published in London, 28 Dec. 2002.
Below are some of his comments:
Hamas is dedicated to continuing its armed struggle - "It is important to
continue the conflict to create within the Israelis a
feeling that they cannot end the struggle by military means. [The
conflict] will spur the Israelis to retreat or to negotiate with the Palestinian
side."
Hamas is taking steps to liberate all of Palestine - "The Hamas is
committed to realizing the full Palestinian rights but the Hamas is not against
agreement that returns Israel to the 1967 borders, which
it views as one step along the path [to liberating the entire territory of
Palestine].
The rapprochement between Hamas and Fatah in order to improve the management
of the struggle against Israel - The rapprochement [between Hamas] and Fatah
is a step in the direction towards the general cooperation between all of the
Palestinian forces we [Hamas] are optimistic that this cooperation will succeed
there is no problem in cooperation [between Hamas and Fatah] regarding the
question whether or not there will be a struggle, but the question is how to
manage the struggle [against Israel], and not how to end it.
Egypt recognizes the strengthening position of Hamas - In response to a
question why Egypt has been moving towards talking with Hamas, Mashal said, "The
Egyptians know well the complexity of Palestinian [politics]. They know how the
balance of forces has changed, and that is the reason they are conducting talks
with Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
IDF Spokesperson: Wednesday, January 8, 2003
Terror Leader States: Our goal is to establish a Palestinian State which will serve as a base to free all of Palestine
The leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Naif Hawatma, stressed during an open chat on the website "Islam On-line" on 6 Jan. 2003, that the establishment of the an independent Palestinian state in the 1967 territories will prepare the grounds for a future "liberation of all historic Palestine."
Below are main points made by Naif Hawatma:
Liberate in steps all of the historical Palestinian lands
"The problem that has existed since 1967, until today [focuses] on the struggle for implementing our peoples' rights at this stage in order to expel the settlements and the occupation of our land that was conquered in 1967, and to ensure the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and with the right of return for refugees.
The huge strategic accomplishment at the current stage will be the clearing of the way for the next stage which will lead to an overall and just democratic solution, based on a united democratic state in all historic Palestine, a state of all of its citizens, Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews, under the umbrella [state] of a united, democratic Palestine.”
"The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, is a fundamental force in the [leadership] of the intifada, comprising 13 factions, of them five factions bearing the armed struggle: the Fatah, the Democratic [Front], the Hamas, the Popular [Front] and the [Islamic] Jihad. Close cooperation exists [between the different organizations] within the framework of the superior council of the intifada in the heroic Gaza Strip, and it the resilient West Bank. The superior council [of nationalistic and Muslim forces that comprise the 13 Palestinian factions] manages the intifada and set its goals in announcements they distribute. The five forces managing the armed conflict do not cooperate openly for security reasons. However, joint operations are held by the different forces and they are cooperating in the defense of the [Palestinian] territory. We [the Democratic Front] strove to establish in the Gaza Strip a joint operational center to manage the struggle in order to organize of the forces engaged in the struggle and defense of the people and the land."
For related articles :
The Hamas favors the plan to liberate all of Palestine http://www.idf.il/newsite/english/1228-3.stm
Nabil Shaath: Draft of Palestinian constitution does not specify the borders of "Palestine" http://www.idf.il/newsite/english/1217-6.stm
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