Munchhausen by proxy and the Middle East

Munchhausen syndrome is a mental disease where a person looks for sympathy or tries to avoid a difficult situation by faking an illness. Munchhausen by proxy is when a parent either falsely claims the child is sick or actually makes the child sick in order to get the  child treated. The reward for the parent is to get sympathy from others for going through this imaginary ordeal.

As amazing as this sounds, there are over 1,200 new cases every year in the US.  Given that the child's sickness is often induced by the parent's poisoning of the child, Munchhausen by proxy is considered a form of child abuse.  It is actually the most deadly form of child abuse in the US.  As the parent (usually the mother ) continues to make the child sick, the ordeal may prove lethal to the child before law enforcement can intervene. The child mortality rate in these cases is about 20%.

It is difficult to understand that this happens at all, since the bond between parent and child is so strong.

Now, what about if instead of a parent/child relationship, we consider other types of relationships?.  How about a government/people relationship?.  Can a government orchestrate circumstances that will lead to the death and suffering of its people just to get the sympathy of others?

As the Hamas leadership hides in the shadows, the common Palestinians are doing the dying. This is making Hamas more popular internally than the moderate Palestinian Authority that is perceived by the Palestinian people as collaborating with Israel.  The death of innocent children also furthers Hamas'  cause of painting Israel as the cause of violence.

This is a sick political calculation that someone made and that has only one downside:
many innocent Palestinian people will die.

It is a price that the Hamas seems to be willing to pay, as it cowardly hides in tunnels and bunkers while dead children become photo ops to further their cause. This is sickening.

In a  Munchhausen by proxy case, the child would have an instinctive sense that the parent is the problem.  Here, I think the Palestinians may not notice. Please do, or else there will be a next time.