The Martyr Game

Palestine Press Agency quotes a new report with some statistics on people killed in the Intifada. While autotranslation is not an exact science, the wording used is more suitable for a sporting event rather than a tragic list of victims. There is a sense of glee to which group was most successful at getting members killed by Israel, as the article uses sports terms to list who has more "martyrs":

The study comes after two months of the year's ninth {year] uprising the following results:

- Fatah won first place with 1437 martyrs in its various military wings, including 30 women and 128 children.
- Hamas won second place with 1410 martyrs, 34 women and 96 children.
- Islamic Jihad had ranked third with 766 martyrs, including 24 women and 53 children.
- The Popular Resistance Committees, known as the first destroyers of a Merkava tank, came in fourth place with 151 martyrs, including 3 women and 3 children.
- The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine won fifth place with 95 martyrs, including two women, and 5 children.
- Won the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, ranked sixth with 72 martyrs, including one woman and 4 children.

- إUnion delegation secular: mourned (7) martyrs.
- Popular Struggle Front: mourned (8) martyrs, including (3) children.
- The People's Party: mourned (3) martyrs, including a woman.
- Fatah - Intifada: a faction outside the framework of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and is based in Damascus, has led Colonel Abu Musa, which lamented the death of 3 martyrs.
- Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command: led by Ahmed Jibril, who is based in Damascus has, the two people in the Intifada, while joining the rest of the military wings of various "quality" operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
- Palestine Liberation Front: under the leadership of Dr. Yusuf made a martyr out of only one.
- Army of Islam: "ideas which would like al Qaeda, led by a Doghmash" : 14 martyrs.
- Free Galilee Brigades: faction emerged years ago is not known identity on the Palestinian arena, defined in the implementation of operations to run over cars and bulldozers to the Israeli soldiers and settlers, particularly in East Jerusalem and the West, where the group said on martyrdom 4 guerrillas.

As for the perpetrators of suicide attacks inflicting casualties both among the Israelis or did not sign, bringing the number (173), including (159) and men (14), where women are still the majority of bodies buried in the cemetery figures for Israel, has emerged from the study results are:

-Won first place in the implementation of Hamas with commando operations (69) and men (3) women, including Jeddah, Palestine, and 70-year old "Fatima Najjar,"
- Islamic Jihad had ranked second with (44) and men (4) women.
- A Fatah in third place with (35) and men (7) women.
- The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in fourth place with (10) men, has not carried out any operation was carried out by any woman.
- أIn the bottom came the organization of the Popular Resistance Committees, with only one man.

Interestingly, the report lists the numbers of members of these groups out of a total number of "martyrs" that is larger by a couple of thousand. Presumably the difference is made up of civilians. But if that is true, why are so many of the "martyrs" listed here women and children?

The answer must be that the "women and children" listed here include the teenagers who engaged in terror acts and were killed in action. In other words, some 270 or so of the "child victims" and nearly 100 women were active members of terror organizations when they were killed by Israel, if you accept these figures.