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 this year, according to statistics presented on Thursday, and one top security official said that more Palestinians were killed in internal violence this year than by Israeli troops.
The descent into lawlessness is hurting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas politically, at a time when he is trying hard to beat back a tough challenge by his Islamic militant rivals. This week, a Palestinian parliament frustrated with armed gangs and corrupt police officers have ordered Abbas to disband his Cabinet and make crime-fighting his number one priority.
deteriorating
"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 last 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 they 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.
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.
war lords
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."
Abu Khoussa said that this year, more Palestinians have been 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.
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 so far this year. By comparison, 140 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops during the same period, Arouri said.
KINGPIN: Marset allegedly laundered the proceeds of his drug enterprise by purchasing and sponsoring professional soccer teams and even put himself in the starting lineups Notorious Latin American narco trafficker Sebastian Marset, who eluded police for years, was handed over to US authorities after his arrest on Friday in Bolivia. Marset, a Uruguayan national who was on the US most-wanted list, was passed to agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration at Santa Cruz airport in Bolivia, then put on a US airplane, Bolivian state television showed. “The arrest and deportation were carried out pursuant to a court order issued by the US justice system,” Bolivian Minister of Government Marco Antonio Oviedo told reporters. The alleged kingpin was arrested in an upscale neighborhood of Santa
FAKE NEWS? ‘When the government demands the press become a state mouthpiece under the threat of punishment, something has gone very wrong,’ a civic group said The top US broadcast regulator on Saturday threatened media outlets over negative coverage of the Middle East war, after US President Donald Trump slammed critical headlines from the “Fake News Media.” The US president since his first term has derided mainstream media as “fake news” and has sued major outlets over what he sees as unfair coverage. Brendan Carr, head of the US Federal Communications Commission — which oversees the nation’s radio, television and Internet media — said broadcasters risked losing their licenses over news coverage. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will
SCANDAL: Other images discovered earlier show Andrew bent over a female and lying across the laps of a number of women, while Mandelson is pictured in his underpants A photograph of former British prince Andrew and veteran politician Peter Mandelson sitting in bathrobes alongside late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was unearthed on Friday in previously published documents. The image is believed to be the first known photograph of the two men with Epstein. They are currently engulfed in scandal in the UK over their ties to their mutual friend. The undated photograph, first reported by ITV News, shows King Charles III’s disgraced brother and former British ambassador to the US sitting barefoot outside on a wooden deck. They appear to have mugs with a US flag on them
INFLUTENTIAL THEORIST: Habermas was particularly critical of the ‘limited interest’ shown by German politicians in ‘shaping a politically effective Europe Jurgen Habermas, whose work on communication, rationality and sociology made him one of the world’s most influential philosophers and a key intellectual figure in his native Germany, has died. He was 96. Habermas’ publisher, Suhrkamp, said he died on Saturday in Starnberg, near Munich. Habermas frequently weighed in on political matters over several decades. His extensive writing crossed the boundaries of academic and philosophical disciplines, providing a vision of modern society and social interaction. His best-known works included the two-volume Theory of Communicative Action. Habermas, who was 15 at the time of Nazi Germany’s defeat, later recalled the dawn of
RSS