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New Year's Resolution for Palestine

Clovis Maksoud hopes for a Fatah and Hamas reconciliation in 2013.
A Palestinian woman waits for the return of Fatah movement activists at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip December 3, 2012. The Islamist Hamas group allowed the 10 activists of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, who fled Gaza into Egypt in 2007 during internal fighting between the two political rivals, to return home in what the group said was a sign of rapprochement, according to a Hamas official.  REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

Jan. 1 is not only New Years Day, but also the anniversary of Fatah. It is hoped that during the year 2013, Fatah and Hamas will get together to form a new government of national unity, empowering the Palestinian people. It is hoped that they will not fall into the trap of having "two Palestines.”

The Palestinian delegation achieved a diplomatic success by daring to seek recognition, but it will be a major blow if this division between West Bank and Gaza remains. It is crucial that a real national unity emerges at this juncture which transcends this continued division and enables the Palestinians to restore effectiveness and credibility to the Palestinian state. Let's reverse the number 13's reputation of being unlucky!

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