The prisoners' National Reconciliation Document

[Ursprüngliche Fassung (Mai 2006) und Endfassung (Juni 2006)]


The Palestinian prisoner's document, which was published (...)[in May 2006], was drafted by leaders of various Palestinian factions currently being held in Israeli jails. The 18-point document, known as the National Reconciliation Document, calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, and stresses the right of return for all refugees to their original homes. It thereby recognizes Israel implizitly.

It carries the signatures of

Marwan Barghouti, Fatah leader,
Abdel Khalek al-Natsheh, Hamas,
Abdel Rahim Malouh, Deputy-head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,
Mustafa Badarneh of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine,
and Sheikh Bassam al-Sa'di of Islamic Jihad.

Following is a loose translation of the document's points:

1. The Palestinian people in the homeland and abroad are seeking to liberate their lands and achieve freedom, the right of return and independence, including the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital on all the territories occupied in 1967.
2. Developing and reactivating the PLO in line with the 2005 Cairo agreement [between Palestinian factions] by incorporating Hamas and Islamic Jihad into the PLO, which is the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
3. The Palestinian people maintain the right to stick to the option of resistance in various methods. Resistance operations should be restricted to the lands that were occupied in 1967, together with political and diplomatic work.
4. The formulation of a comprehensive plan for political moves on the basis of Palestinian national consensus and Arab summit and United Nations resolutions, the PLO platform and fair international proposals.
5. Protecting and consolidating the Palestinian Authority as the core of the future Palestinian state. The higher national interest requires respecting the temporary constitution of the PA, existing laws and the powers of the elected president and government.
6. The establishment of a national unity government for all parliamentary factions, especially Fatah and Hamas.
7. The PLO and its president are responsible for peace negotiations that will be conducted on the basis of adhering to and achieving the national goals of the Palestinians. Any fateful agreement will be brought before the Palestine National Council or to a public referendum for approval.
8. The liberation of all Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel is a sacred duty and should be achieved by all means.
9. Doubling efforts to help the refugees and defend their rights and the formation of a popular body to emphasize the right of return and the need to stick to it.
10. The establishment of a united resistance front that will be called the Palestinian Resistance Front to lead the struggle against occupation.
11. Abiding by democracy and holding free and fair elections for the presidency, the parliament and municipalities.
12. Condemning and rejecting the Israeli and US siege on the Palestinian people and calling on the Arabs to support the PA and the PLO.
13. Promoting Palestinian unity and rallying behind the PA, the president, the PLO and government.
14. Renouncing all forms of dissension and internal strife and banning the use of weapons in internal conflicts and assaults on individuals and property.
15. Searching for ways to improve the participation of our people in the Gaza Strip in achieving freedom and independence.
16. Reforming and developing the Palestinian security forces so that they will be able to defend the homeland and the citizens and face Israeli aggression and enforce law and order.
17. Calling on the Palestinian Legislative Council to pass laws reorganizing the security forces and banning security personnel from political and factional activity.
18. Boosting the efforts and role of international solidarity movements and peace-loving groups that support our people's just struggle against Israeli occupation, settlements and the racist separation wall.

Quellen: Diverse Agenturen.

Am 27. Juni 2006 einigten sich die politichen Bewegungen in Palästina auf folgende Fassung des Dokuments, das ein historisches Dokument werden könnte:
(Leichte Abweichungen auch bedingt durch eine andere Übersetzung)

1. The Palestinian people at home and in exile seek to liberate their land and realize their right of freedom, return and independence, and their right to self-determination, including their right to establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital on all the land occupied in 1967, guaranteeing the right of return for the refugees, liberating all the prisoners and detainees, drawing upon our people's historic right in the land of our ancestors, the U.N. charter, international law, and what international legitimacy guarantees.
2. Expediting the realization of what was agreed upon in Cairo in March 2005 regarding developing and activating the role of the PLO, and the joining of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in this organization as the legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian people wherever they exist; and in line with development on the Palestinian front according to democratic bases and to strengthen the representation of the PLO, the legitimate and sole representative of our people, in a way that would enable it to carry out its responsibilities in leading our people at home and in exile, in mobilizing them, defending their national, political, and human rights in all domains and functions, regional and international; the national interest constitutes that a new national council be formed before the end of 2006 in a way that guarantees the representation of all the forces, factions, national and Islamic parties, and groups everywhere, all sectors, institutions, and personalities on the basis of proportional representation, attendance, and effectiveness in the political, struggle, social, and popular domains, and in protecting the PLO as a wide frontal framework, a comprehensive national coalition, and a national framework that assembles all Palestinians at home and abroad as a higher political reference.
3. The Palestinian people's right to resistance and upholding the choice of resistance by all means, and concentrating the resistance in territories occupied in 1967, alongside political action and negotiations and diplomatic work, and continuing popular resistance against the occupation in all its forms, places and policies, and giving importance to expanding the participation of all sectors, fronts, groups and public in this popular resistance.
4. Devising a Palestinian plan for comprehensive political action, unifying the Palestinian political discourse based on the Palestinian national consensus program, Arab legitimacy, international resolutions fair to our people, which are represented by the PLO, the PA _ its chief and government, national and Islamic factions, civil society groups, public figures _ to be able to reactivate and develop and mobilize Arab, Islamic, and international political, financial, economic and humanitarian assistance to our people and national authority and in support of our people's right to self-determination, freedom, return, independence, and confronting the Israeli plan to impose the Israeli solution on our people, and stand up to the unjust siege on us.
5. Protecting and developing the Palestinian National Authority as the nucleus for the upcoming state, this authority that was founded by our people, and their struggle, sacrifices, blood and suffering of its children; higher national interest requires the respect of the temporary constitution of this authority, and the laws in effect, respecting the responsibilities and authorities of the elected president for the will of the Palestinian people in free, democratic and fair elections, and respecting the responsibilities and authorities of the government which was granted confidence by the parliament, and the importance and need of creative cooperation between the presidency and the government, and joint action, convening periodical meetings between them to settle any disputes with brotherly dialogue on the basis of the temporary constitution and the higher national interest, and the need to carry out a comprehensive reform for all national institutions, particularly the judiciary, and respecting the law on all levels, and implementing its decisions, and supporting and strengthening the rule of law.
6. Forming a national coalition government in way that would guarantee the participation of all parliamentary blocs, particularly Fatah and Hamas, and the political forces who want to participate on the basis of this document and a common program to alleviate the Palestinian situation locally, on the Arab front, regionally and internationally; and facing the challenges with a strong national government that has the popular and political Palestinian support from all forces, as well as Arab and international support, and can carry out the reform program, combating poverty, and unemployment; and providing the best possible assistance to the sectors that endured the responsibilities of steadfastness, resistance, the uprising, and was the victim of the criminal Israeli aggression, particularly the families of martyrs, injured, and the owners of houses and properties destroyed by the occupation, as well as the unemployed and the graduates.
7. Managing the negotiations is the authority of the PLO and president of the PA on the basis of upholding Palestinian national interests and realizing them, provided that any fateful/decisive agreement be presented to the new PNC to ratify or be put up to public referendum if possible.
8. Liberating the prisoners and detainees is a sacred national duty that must be carried out by all national and Islamic forces and factions, the PLO and the PA's president and government and the PLC and all resistance formations.
9. Efforts must be redoubled to support and look after refugees and defending their rights. A popular representative conference of the refugees must be convened, which would yield agencies that would follow up on reaffirming the right of return, upholding it, and calling on the international community to implement Resolution 194 calling for the right of refugees to return and compensation.
10. Working to form a united resistance front called the "Palestinian resistance front" to lead and carry out the resistance against occupation and to unify and coordinate the resistance action and form a unified political reference for it.
11. Upholding the democratic path, holding general and periodic free, democratic and fair elections according to the law, for the president and the legislature, and the regional and local councils; and respecting the principle of peaceful rotation of power; and pledging to protect the democratic Palestinian experience and democratic choice and their results; and respecting the rule of law, the necessary and public freedoms, freedom of the press, and equality between citizens in rights and duties without discrimination; and protecting the gains made by women, promoting and strengthening them.
12. Rejecting and condemning the unjust siege on our people led by the United States and Israel, and calling on Arabs, publicly and officially to support the Palestinian people and the PLO and its PA; and calling on Arab governments to implement Arab summit resolutions, the political, financial, economic, and public ones that are in support of our Palestinian people, their steadfastness, and their national cause, and reaffirming that the PA is committed to Arab consensus and joint Arab action.
13. Calling the Palestinian people to unity and cohesion and closing ranks, supporting the PLO, the PA's president and government and supporting the steadfastness and resistance in the face of the aggression and siege, and rejecting the interference in internal Palestinian affairs.
14. Rejecting all forms of disunity, division and what leads to strife (sedition), condemning the use of weapons regardless of the justifications to settle internal disputes, banning the use of weapons between the children of the same people and reaffirming the sacredness of the Palestinian blood; and committing to dialogue as the only means to resolve disputes, expressing opinions by all means, including opposing the authority and its decisions according to the law; and the right of peaceful protest, organizing rallies and demonstrations and strikes provided they are peaceful, clear of weapons, and do not transgress on people and their property or public property.
15. National interest requires searching for the best appropriate means to continue to engage our people and their political forces in Gaza in their new situation in the battle for freedom, return and independence, liberating the West Bank and Jerusalem in a way that forms a real force for the steadfastness and resistance of our people there. National interest requires a reevaluation of the most successful ways and means of struggle against the occupation.
16. The need to reform and modernize the Palestinian security institution and its sectors to make it more able to carry out its role in defending the nation and citizens, facing up to the occupation and aggression, maintaining public order and security, implementing laws, ending chaos, public display of guns, confiscating weapons of chaos, which greatly harm the resistance and defame its image and threaten the unity of the Palestinian society; and the need to coordinate and organize the relation between the forces and resistance groups, and to organize and protect their weapons.
17. Calling on the legislative council to continue to issue laws that regulate the work of the security institutions and their different branches, and to ensue a law that would ban political party membership (action) for those who are members of the security bodies, and committing to the elected political reference stipulated in the law.
18. Work to expand the role and presence of international solidarity committees and groups, lovers of peace, to support the steadfastness of our people and their just struggle against occupation and settlements, the racist separation wall politically and regionally, and for the implementation of the ICJ decision to remove the wall and the settlements and their illegalities.

Quelle: imemc