Boy, did I have a problem with statistics..  When I was studying psychology at the U. of R. I had to take a course, and I was failing – with a 25% average on quizzes.  In desperation I turned to my brother who pointed out that the whole course was about five equations and  once I could see which one had to be used I’d be fine. 

I aced the final, got a c in the course, which brought down my status on graduation from highest honors, but taught me that statistics could be my friend.

To the point:  We’ve been wondering about the statistics of Gaza deaths all along – how on certain days when not much was going on anywhere the numbers were the same as the day before, how some days of heavy battle few men were killed but a lot of children, etc.  Now Tablet magazine has pointed out how the rates are impossible to trust.  Check it out here:

I worked through the stats, and yes, he’s right. 

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/how-gaza-health-ministry-fakes-casualty-numbers

 And them I raced to Ezi with the data, who barely blinked and said:  “How do you suppose they could be gathering reliable statistics anyway?  What kind of system could they possibly have in the chaos of war?  Of course they make them up!”

And then it hit me.  I never saw that statistics exam that gave me a C average.  The professor probably just saw my other grades and realized I shouldn’t get screwed by the failure I deserved.  Or maybe he remembered me by my plea for understanding.  Or maybe I was prettier than I thought I was.  But in order for me to get a C in the course with an average of 25 (when the value of the quizzes was 50% of the grade) I would need a final exam grade of way over 100, right? 175 to be exact.

So now that I have presented my credentials to discuss the subject, let’s take a look at the statistics of deaths in Gaza.  Al Jaziera says “At least 31,184 Palestinians have been killed.”  They also say More than 25,000 women and children killed in Gaza.   This would leave us with 6,184 men killed.  The US government seems to have adopted these statistics, making them seem more reliable. 

IDF however says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7 in addition to the 12,000 killed in Gaza since. There are no bodies because of course they have been buried, but doesn’t it make sense that if we are fighting hand-to-hand and face-to-face, we know more about how many fighters have been killed?