Suicide by cop - the Palestinian version
6 March 2024
Suicide by cop is when an individual deliberately behaves in a threatening manner with the intent to provoke a lethal response from a law enforcement officer to end their own life.
There are two broad categories of "suicide by cop". The first is when someone has committed a crime and is being pursued by the police and decides that they would rather die than be arrested. These people may not otherwise be suicidal but may simply decide that life is not worth living if they are incarcerated and thus will provoke police to kill them. The second version involves people who are already contemplating suicide and who decide to provoke law enforcement into killing them. These individuals may commit a crime with the specific intention of provoking a law enforcement response. Wikipedia
Palestinians in the Middle East have modified this practice to what I call “suicide by terrorism” or “suicide by proxy.” There are several variations:
Individuals volunteer for suicidal attacks against Israelis or Jews.
Terrorists seek out individuals and persuade them to participate in suicidal attacks against Israelis or Jews.
Palestinian leaders in Gaza carry out acts of violence certain to provoke a response by Israel that will necessarily kill large numbers of Palestinians, as a way of promoting hatred of Israelis and Jews and destabilizing Israel’s international partners.
Although Palestinians have made many important contributions to the United States, Palestinians have also popularized many suicidal practices associated with terrorism:
In the 1960s and 1970s, Palestinian terrorist groups carried out a large number of airplane hijackings, many leading to terrorist deaths, similar to “suicide by cop”.
Since 1993, there have been ~ 680 Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israelis and Jews in which the terrorists knew they would die during the attacks, see also here. This includes large numbers of suicide attacks against civilian targets, some using children as suicide bombers.
In the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas against Israel, Hamas, the elected government of the Palestinians, intended not only to kill large numbers of Israelis but for large numbers of Palestinians to die as martyrs:
Hamas meticulously planned and prepared for a massacre of Israeli civilians on a scale that was highly likely to provoke Israel’s government into sending troops into Gaza, analysts said. Indeed, Hamas leaders have publicly expressed a willingness to accept heavy losses — potentially including the deaths of many Gazan civilians living under Hamas rule.
“Will we have to pay a price? Yes, and we are ready to pay it,” Ghazi Hamad, a member of the Hamas politburo, told Beirut’s LCBI television in an interview aired on Oct. 24. “We are called a nation of martyrs, and we are proud to sacrifice martyrs.” [emphasis added]
Hamas was willing to accept such sacrifices as the price for kick-starting a new wave of violent Palestinian resistance in the region and scuttling efforts at normalizing relations between Israel and Arab states, according to current and former intelligence officials and counterterrorism experts. Washington Post
Not only is Palestinian suicide through martyrdom common but Palestinians have accepted and not protested these “martyrdom events” by their government. In addition, they have made only minimal efforts to get their government to release the hostages or stop the weapons attacks that are causing Palestinian loss of life through the necessary Israeli response. I have described this Palestinian mindset as the Palestinian sickness; whether due to brainwashing or otherwise, this profound societal dysfunction appears unique to Palestinians.
I support a nonterrorist Palestinian state, as does the Biden administration. Currently, Palestinians have a state in Gaza and the West Bank run by a terrorist organization that they elected in relatively fair and free elections. However, all of Gaza is effectively a terrorist military base with almost every adult resident a partner in terrorism and very few innocent Palestinians. If Palestinians want better lives in the Middle East, the next steps are clear:
Palestinians must publicly accept the existence of the State of Israel, with its current boundaries, and stop their obsession with destroying Israel.
Palestinians must publicly reject terrorism and work to rid Gaza and the West Bank of terrorism, including Hamas leadership. This is admittedly dangerous because Hamas and other terrorist groups will attempt to kill them but if Iranians, Russians, Chinese and others can rise up against their corrupt and dangerous leadership, Palestinians can do so also. However, Palestinians will need to work with Western and Arab countries to be successful.
Palestinians must focus on building better lives for themselves, including ending the UNWRA refugee camps and creating decent housing and living conditions.
Palestinians must start to create the institutions necessary for a successful government. They will need to work with the United States, other Western governments, the rational Arab governments (i.e. not Iran, Syria or Lebanon) and rational individuals in Israel (i.e. not Netanyahu or his supporters). The Biden administration has made tremendous efforts in this direction.
Friends don’t let their friends kill themselves. The Palestinians need to dump many of their existing friends and political leaders who serve as useful idiots for Hamas and other terrorist organizations dedicated to destroying Israel. Instead, Palestinians must seek out those who will help them lead better lives through the proposals outlined above.
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