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RAMALLAH, July 20, 2011 (WAFA) – Palestinian youth movements and over 100 non-governmental organizations Wednesday threatened to return to the streets of the West Bank and Gaza Strip if the Palestinian Authority and Hamas do not reconcile their differences and implement the reconciliation agreement they concluded in Cairo in May.

The March 15 Youth Coalition said in a statement that since two months have passed since the signing of the reconciliation agreement without achieving its goals, the youth movement is considering going to the street to demand implementation of the agreement.

“Going to the street is inevitable if the Palestinian leadership does not respond to public demand and start actual implementation of the (reconciliation) agreement,” said the statement.

It rejected the claim that the negotiators need more time to enforce the agreement, describing these claims as senseless.

“The national cause is at a very critical juncture. To pass it, we need to be united and to rise above all differences,” it said.

In addition, 110 Palestinian NGOs sent an urgent appeal to the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to implement the reconciliation agreement and end the division that has afflicted the Palestinian people for years.

“The stumbling in the formation of the government due to differences over who will be prime minister is a cause of public concern,” said a statement by the NGOs.

“We raise our voice, calling for avoiding outside pressure and stressing the priority of reconciliation and national unity in the face of conditions and outside pressures,” it said.

The NGOs called for immediate and quick implementation of the reconciliation agreement, particularly in forming the government of technocrats “because slowness in implementation reflects negatively on the spirit and hopes of our people.”

Meanwhile, Palestinian factions Tuesday started a workshop in Turkey on how to reinforce the reconciliation.

The workshop was attended by members of Fatah, Hamas and other political factions and civil society organizations.

M.A./F.J.

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