Goodfellas on the Gaza Strip (Part Three)

A note on those punishments: mobsters punish those who disobey the rules in their own families, or those who attempt to testify against them. I believe that the situation in the Middle East would lend itself too very well to the elimination of snitches. They have already lived through a climate of fear for longer than most of the other regions. Changing the source of fear from a suicide bomber to a criminal organisation would not be such a big step. All that would be necessary, as the head of a family unhappy with someone’s attitude or actions, is the sending of a message to the right person. The right symbol would convey the right message (cf. “Godfather” and the infamous horse scene).


Now, we also have to consider the reasons why the Mafia would want to live in an area which has been a war zone for such a long time. What would motivate this organisation to become involved with the Middle East? Well, in a word, money. Let us never forget the importance of the profit motive in human affairs. There are very few people who still believe that the US invaded Iraq to simply “liberate” its people and fight terrorism, although the current administration is still perpetrating this idea. Iraq is just a stepping stone for any one nation interested in the reserves of oil available to the lucky invader. Not since the halcyon days of OPEC has any one association been able to exploit the price of “black gold” for their own ends. Just imagine how the Mafia would handle matters. Yes, they would begin by gouging the West, but I believe that the Mafia would eventually realise that they needed customers to buy their product. Prices would have to be stabilised in order to allow the families involved to maintain their business interests. Fluctuations at the gas pump would soon be a distant nightmare.