Hamas wants to thwart vote on Palestinian state

NY Times:

The militant faction Hamas announced its intent on Sunday to block a July 26 referendum called for by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, after failing to reach an agreement in talks with him.

Hamas, which now runs the Palestinian Authority, has accused Mr. Abbas of trying to undermine its authority with the referendum. The vote would decide whether to support a Palestinian state within the pre-1967 boundaries, presumably existing alongside Israel Â? whose right to exist Hamas has refused to recognize.

The Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniya, urged Mr. Abbas in a letter on Friday and in a three-hour meeting in Gaza late Saturday night, to abandon the referendum as a divisive mechanism at a time of crisis, when Palestinians must remain united, and to continue dialogue instead to reach agreement.

"We failed to agree on the referendum question, and we stressed to the president the dangers of this consultation for Palestinian unity," Mr. Haniya said after the meeting. A planned meeting between Mr. Abbas and the exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Mashal in Yemen, which has been trying, like Egypt, to find common ground between Fatah and Hamas, was also scrapped.

On Sunday, Hamas disclosed how it would fight the referendum.

A spokesman announced that Hamas prisoners would withdraw their support from the document on which Mr. Abbas based the referendum, accusing the president of playing politics with the document, which they said they had put forward to promote Palestinian unity. Palestinian prisoners in Israel from both factions drafted the document last month proposing the state and its boundaries.

Further, Hamas said it would formally challenge the referendum on Monday in an emergency session of Parliament, where it holds a majority.

...

While such an election would probably embarrass Hamas which rejects the two state solution, its approval would not mean much since the Israelis would not accept the proposed terms. Hamas has squandered the sympathy of many in the West andIsrael's withdrawall from Gaza has shown that it is not the occupation that is causing the problems but in fact it is the incompetence and religious bigotry of the Palestinians.