Palestinians Doing Suicide By Cop
A boohoo in the LA Times about Palestinians who are suicidal and kill a few birds with one stone -- getting themselves killed and maybe an Israeli or two while having Israeli soldiers shoot them (because this is what you do to someone who's attempting murder). There's more to this, however, than the author puts in his piece.

Joshua Mitnick writes:

Local politicians and experts have mentioned a mix of factors driving the recent attacks: the 49-year-old Israeli military occupation and the lack of progress toward Palestinian statehood; anti-Israeli incitement over social networks; frustration with political atrophy in the Palestinian Authority; constrained economic opportunity; and revenge for the killing of a friend or relative.

Alongside those motivations is, in some cases, a personal crisis.

Surrounded by her husband, Daoud, a carpenter, and children in a bare salon at the family home in the village of Zawiyeh, Rudainyeh Jaber said Jamila wasn't interested in politics. The girl had been distraught over the collapse of a potential arranged marriage, her mother said.

"She was there because she was feeling choked, and suffering. She wanted to die,'' Jaber said. "The girl was not interested in patriotism.''

Suicide bombings against Israeli targets were a frequent occurrence during the Palestinian intifada of the previous decade. The attacks - planned by underground militant groups -- were referred to by Palestinians as "operations" and those who delivered the explosives were celebrated as martyrs.

During the recent 10 months of Israeli-Palestinian violence, however, a different brand of suicide attempt has been playing out around the West Bank. Like Jaber, they are being carried out by distraught Palestinian youths who approach armed Israeli soldiers with knives. In many of the confrontations, soldiers respond with deadly fire.

"They want to escape the difficult situation that they are in. Whether it's depression, lack of success in school, or a fight between their parents. They are looking to escape their reality,'' said Kadoura Fares, who heads the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, a nonprofit group devoted to providing assistance to prisoners held in Israel and their families. Fares estimated that one-fifth of the knife confrontations involve distraught Palestinian youths.

"In our culture, suicide for no reason isn't honorable," he said. "If they try to confront a soldier, however, it's looked on with more respect.''

A little factie-poo not noted here -- Palestinian families get money (a monthly stipend) from the Palestinian Authority if their family member attacks Israelis. Mohammed Tarayra, for example, who murdered 13-year-old American-Israeli Hallel Yaffa Ariel in her bed as she slept, will earn a nice chunk of change for his family.