Palestinian Prisoners' Document - The Prisoners' Document

The Prisoners' Document

The Prisoners' Document consists of 18 points. The document calls for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders and the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, and the implementation of the right of return for Palestinian refugees. The first version of the Document has been interpreted by some as implicitly recognizing Israel's right to exist, as opposed to the Hamas charter of 1988, which calls for Israel's destruction. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for a national referendum on the Prisoners' Document on July 26, 2006, if Fatah and Hamas could not reach a negotiated settlement. Initially, Hamas leaders dismissed Abbas' calls for a referendum on the Document as "illegal" and vowed to boycott it. However, Hamas later agreed to negotiate with Fatah on the contents of the Document, and an agreement was reached on June 27, 2006. One poll in June 2006 showed that 77% of Palestinians supported the Prisoners' Document, but another poll that month showed that only 47% would vote for it in a referendum. Before Hamas and Fatah reached their agreement, the Hamas and Islamic Jihad prisoners who had helped draft the Document retracted their names and withdrew support from it in protest at Mahmoud Abbas' decision to hold a referendum based on the plan; they stated that Abbas was exploiting the Document for political purposes.

President Abbas sought to use the Prisoners' Document as the basis for final status negotiations with Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert dismissed the Document, however, and described it as "meaningless". Olmert claimed that the Document was out of touch with the internationally recognized conditions, because it calls for the right of return for Palestinian refugees and full Israeli withdrawal from all parts of the West Bank.