The Palestinian Godfather.

Some interesting news out of Palestine of late.

The bigger of the two stories (one involved the murder of Christians) is the murder of the cousin of Yasser Arafat (or Arafish as he was labeled by Little Green Footballs).

The former head of general security in Gaza, Moussa Arafat, was killed before dawn Wednesday when gunmen stormed his home here, dragged him outside and shot him in the street. The incident threatened to aggravate tensions among Palestinian factions and security services struggling for power in the Gaza Strip following Israel's evacuation of its 21 Jewish settlements here.

Source: The Washington Post via The Jawa Report

Wretchard compares the action to one of the moves Hitler made to consolidate his power and sees similarities to certain activities in the streets of America

The manner of Mr. Arafat's death suggests his assailants didn't care who knew they were coming for him and were confident that the Palestinian authorities, in whom such touching confidence is reposed, would never intervene in time, if they had any intention of coming at all. Nor were they mistaken. After assaulting Arafat's home by main force they dragged him into the street for disposal -- probably to make a point. How many murders happen like that?

Not many. Unless you count gangland hits. Although the Times reports that "the police told news agencies that they were investigating a report that Mr. Arafat's son, Manhal, 29, considered a close aide, had been kidnapped in the raid" one gets the feeling that the dividing line between "militants" and security authorities of the Palestinian Authority -- the very same ones the International Community relies on to break the "cycle of violence" -- and criminals is a thin one indeed.

Source: The Belmont Club - Speechless in Gaza.

He is very close to being right. The problem with the Palestinian Authority isn't that it is weak (though it is), it is that it is corrupt. How many billions of aid money have been rained down on the PA? What is happening with it? This all sounds like gangland activity.

Wretchard than brings up the reference to The Night of the Long Knives.

There will be those who may take the view that these incidents are unavoidable bumps on the road to the eventual liberation of Arabs from the Israeli yoke, a road signposted by the UN-funded banners which read "Gaza Today. The West Bank and Jerusalem Tomorrow". The question of course, is what if they are not regrettable incidents, but events which characterize the new regime in Gaza? Many of those who rejoiced at Ernst Rohm's demise in the Night of the Long Knives comforted themselves by believing it was a case of one set of hoodlums rubbing out the other. It was true; but it was also irrelevant.

Source: The Belmont Club - Speechless in Gaza.

No, this man's death will not bring peace to the suffering wretches of Palestine. It is certainly not the prelude to a good situation.