The following text is an unofficial English translation of “The Document of National Agreement” signed by imprisoned Palestinian leaders.

This document was originally released on May 11, 2006.

Out of a great feeling of national and historic responsibility, due to the risks that threaten our people, in order to strengthen the internal Palestinian front and to protect national unity and the unity of our people at home and in exile and to confront the Israeli project whose aim is to impose an Israeli solution and destroy the dream of our people and its right to establish an independent Palestinian state enjoying full sovereignty, a project and a design that the Israeli government intends to implement during the coming period based on the construction and completion of the racist wall, the Judaization of Jerusalem, the expansion of settlements, the seizure of the Jordan Valley, the annexation of large parts of the West Bank and preventing our people from exercising its right of return.

In order to preserve the achievements and accomplishments of our people gained through a long march of struggle, in honor of our great people’s martyrs, the suffering of its prisoners and the pain of its wounded, and since we are still going through a period of liberation, national and democratic in its nature, which demands the adoption of a political strategy of resistance in conformity with this nature, to make the comprehensive Palestinian national dialogue succeed in accordance with the Cairo Declaration and the urgent need for unity, we present this document (The Document of National Agreement) to our great and steadfast people, President Mahmoud Abbas, the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, the Council of Ministers, the Chairman and Members of the Palestine National Council, the Chairman and Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, all Palestinian forces and factions, all NGOs and popular organizations and leaders of the Palestinian public opinion at home and in exile.  We hope that you will consider this document a complete one and that it will receive the support and agreement of all of you, and will contribute mainly in reaching a Palestinian national accord:

1. The Palestinian people at home and in exile seeks to liberate its land and realize its rights to freedom and independence, its right of return and its right to self-determination, including its 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 on the basis of our people's historic right in the land of its forefathers, the Charter of the United Nations, international law, and what has been guaranteed by international legitimacy.

2. To expedite the realization of what was agreed upon in Cairo in March 2005 regarding the development and activation of the role of the PLO, and the joining of Hamas and Islamic Jihad to this organization as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people wherever they exist; and in line with developments in the Palestinian arena in accordance with democratic principles and to emphasize the fact that the PLO is the sole and legitimate 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, and in defending their national, political, and human rights in all fora, regional and international. The national interest requires that a new national council be formed before the end of 2006 to ensure the representation of all the forces, factions, national and Islamic parties, and groups everywhere, including all sectors, institutions, organizations and personalities on the basis of proportional representation, activity, and effectiveness in the struggle, in politics, in the social sphere, and in popular domains; and to protect the PLO as a broad umbrella organization, a comprehensive national coalition, and a national framework unifying all Palestinians at home and abroad as the highest political authority.

3. To uphold the Palestinian people's right to resist and to uphold the option of resistance by all means, and concentrate the resistance in the territories occupied in 1967, alongside political action and negotiations and diplomatic work; our people’s right to continuing popular resistance against the occupation in all its forms, places and policies; and to stress importance on expanding the participation of all sectors, fronts, groups and the masses of our people in this popular resistance.

4. To devise a Palestinian plan for comprehensive political action, unifying the Palestinian political discourse based on the program of Palestinian national consensus, Arab legitimacy, and those international resolutions that are fair to our people, to be represented by the PLO, the PA, the President and government, the national and Islamic factions, civil society groups, public figures and organizations in order to reactivate, develop and mobilize Arab, Islamic, and international political, financial, economic and humanitarian support for our people and our national authority; to mobilize the support of our people's right to self-determination, freedom, return and independence; and to confront the Israeli plan to impose the Israeli solution on our people, and stand up to the unjust siege on us.

5. To protect and strengthen the Palestinian National Authority as the core of the future state. This Authority was founded by our people’s struggle, sacrifices and blood and by the suffering of its children. The higher national interest requires respect for the temporary constitution of this Authority, and the laws in effect, respect for the responsibilities and authorities of the President elected by the will of the Palestinian people in free, democratic and fair elections, and respect for the responsibilities and authorities of the government which was granted confidence by the parliament. It is important and necessary to assure creative cooperation between the presidency and the government, to engage in joint action, to convene periodic meetings between them to settle any disputes through brotherly dialogue on the basis of the temporary constitution and the higher national interest. It is also necessary to carry out a comprehensive reform of all national institutions, particularly the judiciary at all levels, and to implement its decisions, and strengthen the rule of law.

6. To form a government of national coalition in such a way as to guarantee the participation of all parliamentary blocs, particularly Fatah and Hamas, and the political groups who want to participate on the basis of this document and a joint program designed to alleviate the Palestinian situation locally, at the inter-Arab level, regionally and internationally; and confront challenges with a strong national government that enjoys Palestinian popular and political support from all groups, as well as Arab and international support, and can carry out the program of reform, combat poverty and unemployment; and provide the best possible assistance to the sectors that endured the burdens of steadfastness, resistance and the Intifada, and were the victims of Israeli criminal aggression, particularly the families of martyrs, the injured, and the owners of houses and properties destroyed by the occupation, as well as the unemployed and the graduates.

7. The management of negotiations falls under the authority of the PLO and President of the PA on the basis of upholding and realizing Palestinian national objectives, provided that any final agreement be presented to the new Palestine National Council to ratify or be put up to public referendum wherever possible.

8. Liberating the prisoners and detainees is a sacred national duty that must be carried out by all national and Islamic groups and factions, the PLO, the PA, the PA President and government, the PLC and all resistance formations.

9. Efforts must be redoubled to support and attend to refugees’ needs, and defend their rights. A popular representative conference of the refugees must be convened, which would yield agencies to follow up on reaffirming the right of return, upholding it, and calling on the international community to implement Resolution 194 which calls for the right of refugees to return and their compensation.

10. To work to form a united resistance front called the "Palestinian resistance front" to lead and carry out the resistance against occupation, unify and coordinate resistance actions and form a unified political authority for it.

11. To adhere to the democratic path, by holding general and regular free, democratic and fair elections according to the law for the Presidency, legislature, and local and municipal councils; to respect the principle of the peaceful rotation of power; and to pledge to protect the democratic Palestinian experience and democratic choice and their results; to respect the rule of law, the necessary and public freedoms, freedom of the press, and equality between citizens in rights and duties without discrimination; and to protect the gains made by women, which must be further developed and strengthened.

12. To reject and condemn the unjust siege on our people led by the United States and Israel, and call upon Arabs, publicly and officially to support the Palestinian people and the PLO and its PA; and to call upon Arab governments to implement the Arab summit’s political, financial, economic, and public resolutions that are in support of our people, their steadfastness, and their national cause;  to reaffirm that the PA is committed to the Arab consensus and to joint Arab action.

13. To call on the Palestinian people to unite and join forces in supporting the PLO, the PA, the President and the government, and to support steadfastness and resistance in the face of the aggression and siege, and rejecting the interference in internal Palestinian affairs.

14. To reject all forms of disunity, division and what leads to sedition, and to condemn the use of weapons, regardless of the justifications, to settle internal disputes; to ban the use of weapons between the children of one people and to reaffirm the sacredness of the Palestinian blood; the commitment to dialogue as the only means through which to resolve disputes, to express opinions by all means, including opposing the Authority and its decisions in accordance with 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. The national interest requires searching for the most 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, and the liberation of the West Bank and Jerusalem to ensure the steadfast Gaza Strip becomes a backbone and real force for the steadfastness and resistance of our people in the West Bank and Jerusalem. The national interest requires a reevaluation of the most successful ways and means of struggle against the occupation.

16. To reform and modernize the Palestinian security apparatus and its sectors to make it more able to carry out its role in defending the nation and citizens, confront occupation and aggression, maintain public order and security, implement laws, end lawlessness and the public display of guns, confiscate the weapons of lawlessness, which greatly harm the resistance and damage its image and threaten the unity of Palestinian society. It is also necessary to coordinate and organize the relations between the forces and resistance groups, and to organize and protect their weapons.

17. To call on the legislative council to continue to issue laws that regulate the work of the security institutions and their different branches, and to enact a law that would ban political party membership (action) for those who are members of the security bodies, and commitment to an elected political authority stipulated by law.

18. To work to expand the role and presence of international solidarity committees and peace-loving groups, to support the steadfastness of our people and its just struggle against occupation and settlements, the racist separation wall politically and regionally, in order to implement the ICJ ruling regarding the removal and illegality of the wall and the settlements.

Signed by:

Marwan Barghouti, Fatah, secretary general

Sheik Abdel Khaliq al-Natsche, Hamas, senior leadership

Sheik Bassam al-Saadi, Islamic Jihad

Abdel Rahim Malouh, PFLP, deputy secretary general