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Source: https://www.thetimes.com/world/middle-east/article/nazareth-christmas-mafia-jdsms56nv
Nazareth Is in the Grip of the Mafia
(The Times-UK) Gabrielle Weiniger - Jesus's hometown has become a mafia stronghold. The Bakri crime cartel is said to have taken over Nazareth, Israel's largest Arab-majority city, and its city hall. In early December, police conducted raids that led to arrests and an investigation into extortion and money laundering. For years, deadly incidents of gun violence have plagued the city and its suburbs. Other gangs have extorted businesses, murdered rivals and overrun authorities in the town, according to Israel's police commissioner of the north, Meir Eliyahu. Joanne Rock Bitar, 38, runs a Christmas-themed shop in the center of the city. "I wouldn't let my daughters out at night," she said. Bitar says she knows people who have been threatened by the mafia, but refuses to speak on the topic. In almost every shop in the city, people speak in whispers on their doorsteps, in fear of the criminal gangs that control the streets. One resident said that anyone speaking ill of the Bakri family faces death. The majority of Arab-Israelis, both Christian and Muslim, consider neighborhood crime and violence the greatest priority. Over 64% said it was the most pressing concern in response to a survey by the Abraham Initiatives NGO, far ahead of the 19% who believed the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel was the top priority.