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Journalism of Courage
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced today that he will call a referendum on the parameters of a future Palestinian state if no agreement is reached with Hamas within 10 days.
Abbas’ deadline to Hamas was a surprise ultimatum, intended to force the Islamic militant group to moderate its position, but is a political gamble in which Abbas himself may well turn out to be the loser.
Abbas said he would ask Palestinians to either accept or reject a document that had been drafted last month by Palestinian militants jailed in Israel, calling for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War.
