U.S. ORTHODOX JEWISH GROUPS CRITIQUE PALESTINIAN NATIONAL ACCORD PROPOSED FOR REFERENDUM BY P.A. PRESIDENT ABBAS; “THERE IS NO HOPE FOR PEACE IN THESE PAGES”

Today, a coalition of Orthodox Jewish organizations strongly criticized the “Palestinian National Accord,” also known as the Prisoner’s Manifesto, in light of the endorsement of that document by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the widespread media mischaracterization of it as a “plan for peace.”

The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the Rabbinical Council of America, National Council of Young Israel and Religious Zionists of America issued the following statement:

People interested in middle east peace cannot accept the “Palestinian National Accord,” also known as the “Prisoner’s Manifesto.” It was written by terrorists and mass-murders currently serving time in jail for their horrendous crimes, it contains unbridled affirmation of Palestinian violence against Israelis, and it attempts to undermine the Road Map for peace that Israel, the United States and the “Quartet” partners have been working for.

Despite assertions to the contrary, the Palestinian National Accord offers no prospects for a cessation of violence against Israelis nor for a negotiated settlement of any kind.

Nowhere in the document is there an explicit — or even implicit — recognition of Israel as a Jewish state or of Israel’s right to exist. Neither is there any explicit endorsement in the document of a two-state solution. There is no language stipulating that the document’s proposed borders would be the territorial limits of a Palestinian state or that the Palestinians would abandon claims to the rest of Israel.

The document affirms and endorses the use of violence against Israeli soldiers and of terrorism against civilians and explicitly calls for greater organization and coordination among the Palestinian security forces “defending the homeland and the citizens and in confronting the aggression and the occupation,” calls for greater coordination between the security forces and “resistance groups,” and promotes the creation of a “National Resistance Front” to “unify resistance acts and create a unified political authority for the resistance.”

There is no hope for peace in these pages.