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Gaza Withdrawal a Test for Palestinian Statehood
(Reuters) Wafa Amr - As Palestinians prepare to celebrate Israel's pending pullout from Gaza, their leaders face the formidable challenge of proving they can run a territory peacefully. For any chance of winning statehood, they must dim the appeal of violence by bringing good government and economic hope to Gaza, officials and diplomats say. "This is a test. We need to convince the world we deserve a state that would be a stabilizing factor in the region. If we fail, history will not forgive the Palestinians," said Jibril al-Rajoub, security adviser to Mahmoud Abbas.