But the Palestinians don't have a military
No kidding. What do you call all those guys with guns and bomb belts? They ain't civilians. They don't have any other occupation but fighting, and they get paid for fighting. They may not be as well armed as the Israelis, but that's sure not for lack of trying. And that's not even counting the PA's official military, excuse me, police, who number about 40,000.
the Israeli civilians take the brunt of Palestinian attacks.
Now they do. I think the characteristic attack has changed over the course of the intifada. For the first year or so, there was more emphasis on shooting at the IDF in checkpoints, throwing molotov cocktails, etc. Less of that now, more bombing and sniping at cars. Attacking the checkpoints, which are fortified, is definitely attacking a military target. I remember one interviewer who asked the IDF soldiers their opinion of the Palestinian gunmen who shot at them nightly. The reply was, "As soldiers, they stink. But as kamikazes, they're not bad." For the Palestinians, casualties provide a real benefit in the war for world opinion.
So rather than a death rate due to attacks, what I'm looking for is more like a murder rate
I don't understand what you mean by this. |
