June 11, 2006
VOTES HAVE CONSEQUENCES:
Abbas seeks backing of Palestinians (Joshua Mitnick, June 11, 2006, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday formally announced a July 26 referendum on negotiations with Israel, disregarding Hamas' boycott pledge and the political fallout from the deaths of seven Gazan beachgoers killed Friday by an errant Israeli shell.
As Hamas' military wing fired small rockets into southern Israel, signaling the end to a 16-month truce, a legislator from the Islamist militant party said Mr. Abbas would be held responsible for the "dangerous" consequences of a vote.
Speaking to reporters in Ramallah, Mr. Abbas described the referendum as an immediate necessity to settling his ongoing dispute with Hamas and restoring international financial aid.
Folks who don't understand the drive to democratize the Middle East need only consider Hamas's terror of letting the Palestinian people express their desires vis-a-vis Israel. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 11, 2006 9:13 AM
Comments
Seems it wasn't an errant Israeli shell but an errant Palestinian mortar or Kassam rocket. See this report at Aretz.
Interesting that the Palis cleared away and 'disappeared' any evidence such as shell fragments, I'm sure we'd be seeing them if they were Israeli.