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Sharp increase in Paleo-on-Paleo violence
Make Mine with extra butter.
The number of Palestinians slain in vigilante killings and other internal violence has nearly quadrupled in four years, from 43 in 2002 to 151 so far in 2005, according to statistics presented Thursday, and one top security official said more Palestinians were killed in internal violence this year than by Israeli troops.
Does this mean we have to start sending pizzas to the Paleos?
Nah, they turn themselves into street pizzas without our help.
The descent into lawlessness is hurting Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas politically, at a time when he is trying to beat back a tough challenge by his Islamic militant rivals. This week, a Palestinian parliament frustrated with armed gangs and corrupt police officers ordered Abbas to disband his Cabinet and make crime-fighting his top priority. "The security situation is deteriorating in a very dangerous way, with no one putting a stop to it," said Hassan Khreisheh, the deputy parliament speaker.

In the most recent incident, a Gaza taxi driver was killed Sunday by gunmen affiliated with Abbas' ruling Fatah movement. At the time, a group of drivers was blocking a junction in southern Gaza to protest rising fuel prices. The gunmen demanded the junction be cleared, then opened fire, killing 30-year-old Yasser Barakeh. Abbas promised Barakeh's family he would track down the killers, but no arrests have been made.

Late Thursday, armed men kidnapped a Palestinian professor known as a Hamas political leader from his West Bank home, his wife said. Palestinians said it was part of an internal conflict. The Israeli military said it had no part in the abduction of the professor, Riad al-Raz, 47, head of the engineering department at A-Najah University in Nablus.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
The growing chaos is, in part, an outgrowth of nearly five years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. The conflict strengthened armed gangs and weakened the Palestinian security forces, who were initially targeted by Israeli troops. With the breakdown of law, many Palestinians have returned to tribal justice to settle disputes. Some security commanders have become war lords, using the men under their command for personal gain or illegal enterprises, such as weapons deals or extortion. In many cases, policemen are moonlighting as gunmen in militias. The overlap is particularly pronounced in the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which has ties to Fatah.

Abbas, meanwhile, has shied away from confronting the armed groups for fear of civil war. However, his attempt to get armed men off the streets with promises of jobs and political participation has had only limited success. Abbas' security chief, Interior Minister Nasser Yousef, argues he can't fight crime without a political decision to confront the armed groups. "When Hamas keeps its military wing, then Fatah will say, we have the right to do the same," said Yousef's spokesman, Tawfiq Abu Khoussa, referring to unauthorized armed gangs linked to the ruling party. "That's what makes it so difficult for the interior minister to fight chaos and implement the law."
Not having a spine also makes it difficult.
Abu Khoussa said that in 2005, more Palestinians were killed by fellow Palestinians than in fighting with Israel. He did not provide figures, but his claim was backed up by the Independent Commission for Human Rights, an independent Palestinian group.
Someone you can trust; they're "independent."
The growing chaos is quickly turning into Abbas' biggest political headache - even more than the threat from Hamas which is poised to do well in January parliament elections. This week, angry legislators gave Abbas two weeks to present a new Cabinet and focus on battling crime, even ahead of negotiations with Israel. "KAOS Chaos is the most dangerous threat Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority are facing now," ...
And Maxwell Smart just died.
... said Palestinian analyst Hani al-Masri. "If the Palestinian Authority doesn't take hard steps to protect us from chaos, it will collapse."

Majed Arouri, a researcher for the group, said 151 Palestinians have been slain in internal violence or as a result of reckless behavior by militants in 2005 so far. For example, the Palestinian-on-Palestinian death toll rose sharply in September when 22 Palestinians were killed when rockets exploded inadvertently at a Hamas military parade. By comparison, 140 Palestinians were killed by Israel Defense Forces troops during the same period, Arouri said.

According to an Associated Press count, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire stands at 127 in 2005 so far, while the Palestinian Health Ministry said the total number was closer to 200. AP does not keep a count of Palestinians killed in internal violence. "We're Journalism majors; we can't count that high."
"But you should believe us anyway."
Statistics about deaths during the five years of Palestinian-Israeli violence are imprecise because of several factors, including differing methods of categorization and conflicting claims of responsibility and blame for many of the deaths. Arouri said there has been a sharp increase in vigilante killings and other slayings of Palestinians by Palestinians in recent years. In 2002, there were 43 such killings, compared to 56 in 2003 and 93 in 2004, he said.
I like that trend. Better that Paleos die than, well, just about anyone else.
Posted by: Jackal 2005-10-07
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=131592