THE DISCIPLINE OF CONSENT:

Abbas's political gambit: A two-state solution is implicit in a referendum that the Palestinian leader is likely to promote Saturday (Ilene R. Prusher, 6/09/06, The Christian Science Monitor)

The call to hold a referendum on the prisoner manifesto is a bold gambit by Mr. Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, who has been running low on options since the election of Hamas, which refuses to deal with Israel or forgo militancy against it. [...]

According to the center's recent polls on attitudes, he says, most Palestinians would vote in favor of a referendum recognizing Israel. In a separate poll released earlier this week by Bir Zeit University, outside Ramallah, close to 77 percent of Palestinians surveyed agreed that a referendum should be held, and 81 percent said they support the so-called prisoner's declaration as the platform for a national unity government.