Palestinian Arabs Observe Minute Of Silence

So, what does it take to inspire a minute of reverent silence?

Palestinians remember Saddam year after hanging

Some 700 Palestinians observed a minute's silence on Monday as they marked the first anniversary of the hanging of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The demonstration in this southern town in the occupied West Bank opened with the silent tribute for the former Iraqi president who was one of the most popular Arab leaders among Palestinians.

Holding Saddam portraits and gripping Iraqi and Palestinian flags, rally participants recited poems praising the dictator who was hanged on December 30, 2006 in Iraq after a court sentenced him to death for his role in the slaughter of tens of thousands of ethnic Kurds in 1988.

So what is it that conjures up such reverential respect among Palestinian Arabs for Saddam Hussein. After all,

...this serial mass murderer killed over half a million of his own countrymen (by conservative estimates) during his reign of terror and several hundred thousand more Iranians and Kuwaitis while invading his neighbors. This makes him responsible for the deaths of more Muslims than any single leader since the Mongol hordes invaded the Middle East in the 13th century.

What does it take?

Saddam remains popular among Palestinians due in part to his payments of millions of dollars to the families of suicide bombers and anti-Israel fighters, as well as his missile attacks on Israel during the 1991 Gulf War.

Apparently it does not take much.

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