Trauma experiences in Gaza/Palestine

[Sven Fuchs]

Hello,
(Hi Peter and Paul,)

 

I just wanted to share some information about the extent of trauma experienced in Gaza.
This must be of interest to trauma-informed individuals and psychohistorians.

 

Today we know that cumulative trauma experiences have a strong negative impact on human psyche and behavior. There are also various studies that have found a connection between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and extremism/terrorism.

 

In a large UNICEF study, many countries were compared with each other regarding the situation of children. The study showed that in the Palestinian territories, over 85% of the particularly sensitive group of one-year-old children experience physical and/or psychological violence from parents within four weeks, the highest value in the comparative evaluation (https://www.unicef.org/reports/familiar-face, p. 27).

 

Anyone who would like to find out about the diverse extent of violence against children and domestic violence in Gaza and the West Bank will find a lot of information here (very good overview!!): "Preliminary Results of the Violence Survey in the Palestinian Society 2019". https://palestine.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/violence_survey_preliminary_results_2019.pdf

 

What stands out in the data is that children in Gaza experience far more violence than in the West Bank.

 

The legal situation in the region is also very backward; corporal punishment “is still to be achieved in the home, alternative care settings, day care, some schools and possibly some penal institutions and as a sentence for crime” (End Corporal Punishment 2021, http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/wp-content/uploads/country-reports/StateOfPalestine.pdf). 

 

Added to this are the experiences of violence, war and terror outside the family/school:

 

A survey of 607 teenagers and young adults in the Gaza Strip found that 97.2% of those surveyed had had at least six traumatic experiences in connection with warlike events by 2006 and 100% of those surveyed had had at least 21 such traumatic events up to 2021 (Mohamed et al. 2023; https://mecp.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s43045-023-00286-5). The signs of post-traumatic stress disorder were correspondingly high.

 

In 2013, 1,029 school children between the ages of eleven and seventeen were surveyed in the Gaza Strip. Each child had had at least one traumatic experience related to warlike events. 88.3% had direct traumatic experiences, 83.7% witnessed other people's traumatic experiences and 88.2% witnessed destruction caused by war. 54% of the students surveyed met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (El-Khodary 2020; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7137754/).

Poverty, restrictions on freedom of movement and other problems in this region are well known and no less consequential.

 

In addition, there is early indoctrination (in school or "summer camps") by Hamas, which gives children early images of "the enemy"...

Such societies are deeply traumatized societies! Nevertheless, not the majority of people there will become terrorists (in fact, most of the negative consequences are likely to be physical and mental health), but the chances of this happening are increasing. 

 

This text is not about politics or comparisons between the actions of Hamas and Israel. A trauma analysis of the region should be carried out objectively. With conclusions for violence prevention!

 

Best regards from Germany,

 

Sven Fuchs