Thursday, November 20, 2008

Israel's Mob Wars

CNN reports on a fascinating situation in Israel. It seems that while the Israeli police and indeed the world have been focusing on Palestinian terrorism, mafia-like business has been thriving. Head of a powerful underworld family, Yaakov Alperon was killed instantly in a bomb blast, which in spite of the official family statement that those responsible will have to answer to God, will probably be followed by additional violence.




What do you think? Is it surprising that in Tel Aviv there are a number of organized crime families? How does this fit with what Bob S. has pointed out to us a number of times, that armed teachers in Israeli schools are responsible for the fact that they don't have school shootings? I had pictured Israel as an organized and apart from the Palestinian threat, fairly peaceful place, but this mob hit on Alperon makes me wonder. What's your opinion?

5 comments:

  1. It has nothing to do with school shootings.

    And I'm not surprised when ANY place has Organized Crime famlies.

    Still I chuckle because it reminds me of the Jewish crime family in Guy Ritchie's box office hit "Snatch"
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggWz4tDAwkE

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  2. Mike,

    Doesn't Italy have some very strict gun control laws and still have Organized Crime?

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  3. Good question about Italy's gun laws. It really seems to be a non issue here. I don't know why that is, but in the last 20 years I've practically not even heard about guns, let alone encountered them in any way.

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  4. Mike, I was once talking to a gentleman from the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, one day he just mentioned to me that his country just didn't have any gay people in it. He wasn't sure why, but he was just sure there were no Gays in Georgia.

    Your above comment strikes me as similar.

    Just because you don't hear about it doesn't mean it isn't there. That goes double if you don't hear...and you don't go looking.

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  5. Mike,

    So, if you don't hear about any guns, that means there is no violent crime in Italy, right?

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