“Doctor, we believe that none of us will die a natural death.”
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24-year-old Palestinian girl said this to me. She had assisted me in helping some younger children who had been psychologically harmed by Israeli attacks on Gaza after October 7, 2023. She said this without expressing any anger, sadness or aggression. I felt a shudder down my spine. Since then, her words have frequently echoed in my mind, every time with a fresh connotation. Was it a resolution; a commitment; a reality check; or just a done deal? She used we to represent the collective consolation on the ground, not just her own. Does it reveal something to the armchair intellectuals who constantly advise Palestinians from their comfortable homes? Their analyses of this situation are flawed, primarily because they lack an understanding of the psychological mechanism underlying suppression.
The logic of power must be used to initiate and sustain suppression. It begins only when power or war machinery is regarded as the determining factor in defining right and wrong. Those with more power/ weapons adopt the moral position of committing horrendous atrocities in the name of self-defence. Didn’t we see this in recent history? Recent examples include British colonialism’s ‘civilising mission’; and when the US and allies taught Iraqis ‘democracy, human rights and freedom.’ The compass of such a morality is always focused on power. This logic of power is required to justify tyranny; thus, falsehoods, fabrication and being economical with the truth are vital components of this ‘logic.’
Two corollaries readily follow this. First, either a new history is created or the narrative is modified in a delicate, unnoticeable and appropriate manner. Such historical engineering generates a fresh political discourse founded on a complete rejection of the historical context of the current topic. Power determines its own point of beginning for the current situation/ crisis. Second, the logic of power and the creation of a new history need the use of propaganda machines to destroy current reality and replace it with a new one. In this new world, new clichés emerge soon. Expansion and occupation are replaced by the right to defence; innocent children are killed after they are referred to as human shields. First, the suppressed are reduced to lesser humans, with little alternative for survival. Once they are trapped in a do-or-die scenario, they are labelled as terrorists. In disconnected debates, paid media pundits casually ignore the history of efforts by the wretched of the Earth to achieve their rights peacefully through diplomatic negotiation. They are, then, portrayed as born terrorists who one can not talk to and are a threat to the civilised world.
It is a trauma for everyone who lives as a human being in these times, not just the Palestinians. The situation for Palestinians has gone beyond what can be defined as ‘trauma.’
This is a theoretical explanation of an oozing wound that stands for Palestine. Following the approval of a UN resolution outlawing military occupation, this is the most gruesome and far-reaching atrocity perpetrated in front of social/ digital media in the current era. Its horrors are perpetrated with new levels of violence and brazenness. The films show Israeli troops shooting innocent children and women, as well as their interviews in which they express their will to continue killing till the last Palestinian, are revolting to the point of disbelief in their humanity.
It is a trauma for every human being alive in these times, not just the Palestinians. The situation for Palestinians has gone beyond what can be defined as ‘trauma.’ I argued at a forum that the way post traumatic stress disorder is defined in textbooks and diagnostic manuals is meaningless and a black spot in mental health professionals’ expertise. This definition excludes the suffering of individuals in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and other such regions. The extent of suffering in these regions cannot be measured using traditional methods. Can these professionals not see that there is no post-trauma for Palestinians? Instead, it is a perpetual trauma. It has been perpetuated for more than seven decades and there has been no ray of hope. Such suffering and agony require a new definition and scale of measurement. But that will not happen because doing so will establish the suffering as a scientific truth.
The question here is not about trauma or whether Palestinians will live or die; or whether they will have their sovereign state. The question is for everyone living elsewhere right now: where will history place them in the future—as a friend or an opponent of the most atrocious bunch of people? Why is the Vietnam War recalled in history with the mention of individuals such as Bertrand Russell from the UK, Noam Chomsky from the US and French philosophers Jean Paul Sartre and Michele Foucault as those standing up for the oppressed? They inspired their societies and the whole world to respond to the call of conscience and not remain passive. Did they carry guns or launch missiles at the US? Did they question the Vietnamese about their strategies? These prominent people acknowledged that oppressed individuals often lack options and ammunition to fight oppression. That is why these thinkers raised concerns and questioned power. Can someone offer comparable questions to Israelis and allies, asking what transforms an ordinary Israeli soldier into a killing machine? Why are eighty-two percent of Israelis in favour of displacing Palestinians from their homeland?
As the fight becomes more violent and persistent, the alternatives for the oppressed become increasingly limited. With so little options, people are more likely to make suicidal mistakes. These mistakes are rooted in a lack of options. That is why the question is for the oppressor and the rest of the world: why are young Palestinians accepting unnatural death as their fate?
The questions are waiting for answers; history will be watching.
The writer is a clinical psychologist. He is the author of Istemaar Ki Nafsiat published by Ilqa Publishers in 2024.