Organized Extortion in the West Bank...

Just when you thoughts things were bad....

One Palestinian merchant sold his shops and is preparing to emigrate after gunmen tried to extort 50,000 shekels ($12,500) from him. Another entrepreneur ended up in the hospital with severe beating injuries after refusing to pay up.

Blackmail of wealthy business people is the latest tactic of some Palestinian militants, who have increasingly turned to crime to fund their armed groups, terrorizing entire cities as intimidated police stand by.

The extortionists often have ties to the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent offshoot of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, or even serve in the security forces.