>"Factions," I think, is the illuminating concept. Guelphs and
>Ghibellines. Crips and Bloods. Zionists and Arabists?
Not so illuminating. With Crips and Bloods you can't keep up even with a scorecard. And weren't there Black Guelphs and White Guelphs?
http://www.streetgangs.com/crips/losangeles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grape_Street_Watts_Crips_%28gang%29