Just after Warren Beatty?s bullying Bugsy Siegel leaves a get-acquainted session with some Los Angeles mobsters, one of the angry goons in the film Bugsy proposes to boss-man Jack Dragna that they follow Bugsy outside and blow him away. That?s gangland talk for a killing.
Dragna orders them to hold off. The last thing they want is for Bugsy?s New York associates, like Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano, to whack them (syndicate talk for blowing someone away).
Instead, says Dragna, wait until the maniac loses his influence and nobody cares what happens to him. Then hit him (mob lingo for whacking).
If Ariel Sharon was a mob boss, he would have been knocked off long ago. His lieutenants are publicly yakking about whacking Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian Authority and the original terror master. Like Bugsy, Yasser has also been accused of skimming money and extorting innocent people for protection money.
This is grisly subject matter. Many critics of Israel and possibly some of its supporters are outraged that a government would consider assassinating an elected leader. So, it feels tasteless even to write about it. But since the issue has been raised, it seems like fair game to examine all the variables. I?ll try to address this touchy subject gingerly.
The hostile relationship between Jews and Arabs lends itself to ready comparison with the mob wars, especially in the last three years. The last century has been strewn with tit-for-tat killings. There are two prime differences: The Arabs started the violence, and in the current round the Israeli military targets known terrorists while many Arabs regard every Jew ? infants included - as the enemy.
Of late, Israel?s prime minister has taken heat for targeted assassinations and talk of whacking Arafat (as a reminder, whacking means to kill). No civilized person can deny that Israel?s tactics amount to rough justice. I won?t miss any of these creeps.
I supported the Oslo Accords and, unlike many readers, I don?t necessarily blame them for the current troubles. I think the question of Oslo?s impact requires further study. However, I found it awfully odd that Arafat was recognized as the Palestinian leader following his long reign of terror.
In addition, it is obvious that Sharon?s government is intentionally blowing away terrorist leaders now and talking up Arafat?s hit, though why is unclear. One theory is that the government is softening world opinion to try another tack that would anger the Arabs.
The problem is timing. The Arabs are exploiting this issue to criticize Israel and bad press results from it.
I am no expert on the mob, but Dragna?s movie advice for not taking out Bugsy ? who, as you are probably aware, was Jewish ? makes sense.
Dragna, whether or not anti-Semitic, had plenty reason in the movie version to hate Bugsy, because he humiliated him and treated him like an errand boy. However, he knew circumstances were too hot, just as it is too hot today for Israel to blow Yasser away.
[Bugsy was whacked in 1947, after his construction of Las Vegas? first casino drove his East Coast gangster associates into debt. It is widely recognized that Lansky and company ordered the hit, especially after Lansky came to believe that Siegel had skimmed money. Though $6 million may be the take at Harrah?s in as many minutes today, $6 million ? the cost of building that first hotel - was no trifling amount in those days. It has never been revealed who pulled the trigger on Bugsy.]
If Dragna was alive today, he would probably advise Sharon to leave Arafat alone and work with the current Palestinian leadership. Hopefully, a peace settlement will be reached, the economy will be rebuilt and the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians will markedly improve, Dragna would say. If and when that happens, he would add, who will care what happens to Arafat and other terrorist leaders?
Dragna would next suggest that the idea of hitting Arafat at this time should be rubbed out. To rub out is mob parlance for?
Dragna orders them to hold off. The last thing they want is for Bugsy?s New York associates, like Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano, to whack them (syndicate talk for blowing someone away).
Instead, says Dragna, wait until the maniac loses his influence and nobody cares what happens to him. Then hit him (mob lingo for whacking).
If Ariel Sharon was a mob boss, he would have been knocked off long ago. His lieutenants are publicly yakking about whacking Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian Authority and the original terror master. Like Bugsy, Yasser has also been accused of skimming money and extorting innocent people for protection money.
This is grisly subject matter. Many critics of Israel and possibly some of its supporters are outraged that a government would consider assassinating an elected leader. So, it feels tasteless even to write about it. But since the issue has been raised, it seems like fair game to examine all the variables. I?ll try to address this touchy subject gingerly.
The hostile relationship between Jews and Arabs lends itself to ready comparison with the mob wars, especially in the last three years. The last century has been strewn with tit-for-tat killings. There are two prime differences: The Arabs started the violence, and in the current round the Israeli military targets known terrorists while many Arabs regard every Jew ? infants included - as the enemy.
Of late, Israel?s prime minister has taken heat for targeted assassinations and talk of whacking Arafat (as a reminder, whacking means to kill). No civilized person can deny that Israel?s tactics amount to rough justice. I won?t miss any of these creeps.
I supported the Oslo Accords and, unlike many readers, I don?t necessarily blame them for the current troubles. I think the question of Oslo?s impact requires further study. However, I found it awfully odd that Arafat was recognized as the Palestinian leader following his long reign of terror.
In addition, it is obvious that Sharon?s government is intentionally blowing away terrorist leaders now and talking up Arafat?s hit, though why is unclear. One theory is that the government is softening world opinion to try another tack that would anger the Arabs.
The problem is timing. The Arabs are exploiting this issue to criticize Israel and bad press results from it.
I am no expert on the mob, but Dragna?s movie advice for not taking out Bugsy ? who, as you are probably aware, was Jewish ? makes sense.
Dragna, whether or not anti-Semitic, had plenty reason in the movie version to hate Bugsy, because he humiliated him and treated him like an errand boy. However, he knew circumstances were too hot, just as it is too hot today for Israel to blow Yasser away.
[Bugsy was whacked in 1947, after his construction of Las Vegas? first casino drove his East Coast gangster associates into debt. It is widely recognized that Lansky and company ordered the hit, especially after Lansky came to believe that Siegel had skimmed money. Though $6 million may be the take at Harrah?s in as many minutes today, $6 million ? the cost of building that first hotel - was no trifling amount in those days. It has never been revealed who pulled the trigger on Bugsy.]
If Dragna was alive today, he would probably advise Sharon to leave Arafat alone and work with the current Palestinian leadership. Hopefully, a peace settlement will be reached, the economy will be rebuilt and the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians will markedly improve, Dragna would say. If and when that happens, he would add, who will care what happens to Arafat and other terrorist leaders?
Dragna would next suggest that the idea of hitting Arafat at this time should be rubbed out. To rub out is mob parlance for?