Colin Powell says there is hope for a “democratic, viable” Palestinian state—but the draft proposal of the new Palestinian Constitution says that Islam is the official religion and the basic source of legislation is shari’a.

…the draft considers Islam as the official religion of the state along with respect of all other religions and that the principles of the Islamic Law (Shari’a) is the basic source of legislation. The parliament will define the personal statute according to the unifying authority of religions.

Maybe Colin was referring to this section, where the Palestinians (never big on logic or consistency) try to imply that democracy and shari’a are not mutually exclusive:

The constitution also considers that the political system of the state of Palestine is democratic representative system based on political pluralism and that the conduct of the government authorities are subject to legal and judiciary check up. It also explains that the economy of the Palestinian state shall be established on the basis of the market economy principles.

I’m interested to see how they plan on reconciling Islam’s ban on interest with “market economy principles.”

The draft also takes the usual Palestinian extreme, uncompromising position on the so-called “right of return:”

The draft stressed on the right of return for all Palestinians, whether they are refugees or residents inside or outside the Palestinian territories, and it is a permanent unconditional right. The draft also stipulates on the permanent right of Palestinians to demand compensation for the lands and real estate that were destroyed or seized or for the emotional and physical suffering that they faced in relation to the establishment of the state of Israel and the Israeli invasion in 1967.

This isn’t really a constitution at all; it’s a recipe for the continuation of the glorious stupidfada.