PTSD and Anxiety in Youth Stemming From the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

By: Shruti A.

From books like Evicted to the speech given by Malcolm X at Berkeley during the civil rights movement, the same theme and pleaded concept had risen; the oppressed are not to be expected to behave in a reasonable manner, that action being a choice. Malcolm X famously conveyed his powerful, confident speech to a crowd of white individuals during the civil rights movement, bravely portraying his idea that others may not have a say in the way the oppressed act as their trauma is not one that can be reflected by another. A far fetched analogy, but logical in terms of actions of oppression when compared to the Israeli Palestinian Conflict. The Israeli Palestinian Conflict is an offshoot from the separation of religious groups and the control/power regarding one forced area of land, created by rapid excursion and placement done by the United Nations for a quick attempt at peace. The same quick arrangement, created to assimilate an ethnic group back into a location perceived, but not truly meant to be stated as a “homeland”, established a now 100 year conflict in regards to the Balfour Declaration(the official statement of keeping Jewish population in Palestine by the British government). An original disagreement on territory and misconception of immigration reason, turned into an ongoing battle that has created a generation of trauma that continues to lead into greater trauma. The tumultuous effects resulted in a never ending cycle of violence as response to condition. There is no blame to be kept on a group for the conflict, but importance in inhibiting the passing of psychological conditions from continued oppression purely as a response to misunderstanding and continued hatred. The psychological conditions range from PTSD to Separation anxiety and even behavioral disorders that continue to prolong violence and the choice to be extreme. Public health officials have even tried to develop boundaries by certain infiltration techniques in inhibiting conflict, but seen by psychological research studies, the one true way to address such health concerns, especially in terms of understanding and preventing oppression, is through mental health.

For understanding the impacts of public health policy and psychological impacts of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the history leading up to the events is key as it was not a sudden revelation to create violence and dishevel in the Middle East. At the time and before the first World War, Palestine, Israel, Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan did not individually exist, but were together as a part of the Ottoman Empire. The main ethnic groups of the region consisted of Jewish people and Arabs, which is a key concept in disagreement. When the Ottoman Empire dismembered as per the Axis powers, the British and French divided the region leading to the initial domino of the Balfour Declaration. At its most simple level, the Balfour Declaration indicates British involvement in the development of Jewish “homeland” in current Palestine. Due to such push, the Jewish immigrants began to create a Jewish state in Palestine, later to misunderstand an establishment of Palestine as a Jewish state, even though that was not the intended action. In this ongoing start of conflict World War 2 broke out, resulting in a halt in negotiation leading to even worse circumstances of disagreement between the forced ethnic groups. As a resolution, the land was divided between Palestine and the Jewish state with Jerusalem, a significant sacred city for multiple religious groups, being placed in the jurisdiction of the United Nations. As the years passed, the Jewish state turned into Israel and there was a eradication of the proposal dividing the land into such zones pertaining to Palestine, Israel, and Jerusalem. These tensions began to sky rocket from the rescinding of such proposals, leading to the Six-Day War where Jordad, Iraq, Egypt, and Syria declared war on Israel until Israel was named the victor, holding control of the West Bank and Gaza.

The Six Day War was a catalyse in events for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict due to the constant defiance of Palestinian people in established territory. Much like the events as a result of the death of Franz Ferdinand, a single event resulted in the greatest, ongoing peak of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. When an Israeli Defense Force truck crashed into a Palestinian truck, many individual were killed. This single event caused a chain of protest, tear gassing, live firing, attacks, and extreme views between the relations of the countries and ethnic groups. With ongoing tension, killing, protests, the Intifada was created with the goal of establishing peace once again in the area. During the first Intifada, rules of negotiations and the right to occupy/exist were established. However during the second Intifada, an Israeli politician’s visit to a sacred Mosque led to a turn of events of greater protests, firing, and tension. This Intifada is still present to this day in deemed “regular occurrence” and reasoning for extreme measures of said “revolutionary” terrorist groups resisting Israeli occupation of claimed land from the Six Day War. International authorities and local authorities have attempted in peace and relations however there is a ongoing nature of controversial plans created that none of the sides seem to follow or agree upon due to Israel’s establishment of land and Palestines resistance to such occupancy. Even meeting with international leaders like Barack Obama, have made deeper holes in establishing good conditions of the region. There is constant fight over regions, occupancy, buildings, roads, homes, and other resources that has led to a generation of violence in the area with rocket brigades, to firing, to house searches, and much more extenuating circumstance for both sides of the conflict. Due to the extended presence of such violent disagreement, adults and children who have grown and lived purely in such a state have experienced traumatic fright and physical problems leading to mental health issues rarely even acknowledged as an idea in the warring society. Public health issues are a direct result from environmental and societal pressures, with this being the constant inherited conflict, there have been great mental health issues unaddressed. Pertaining to such problems, public health is not just about figuring out viral vaccine distribution or surface level conflicts but also ones that are reflective of society’s deep issues engraved in the mind of people for generations. Addressing such problems can only help further peaceful progress and develop true understanding of help and non-violence in regions. In these health issues, many were pertaining to stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma as represented in numerous research studies and social projects.

A certain component of the mental health disorders by both World War 2 survivors/refugees and by individuals part of attacks stemmed from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was PTSD, specifically the inherited factor of it in regards to Palestinians. Due to trauma from constant fright of attacks, harmful protests, mass killings of communities, many Palestinians faced severe Posttraumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD) symptoms. The symptoms not only impacted their lifestyle and sustainability of communities, but also have large emotional transference properties. With the added details of similar situations occurring for years and passing over from parents to offspring, the parent’s trauma influenced the child’s traum over time. It was passed on through experience, environment, and through emotions due to the constant of severe conditions over extended periods of conflict. Additionally, response to such trauma was a significant factor because if a parent reacted to a certain condition in a certain manner due to the weight of trauma breaking the kept suppression of their thoughts, the same behaviour was learned by the children contributing to the similar response and as a result, a similar mental health disorder associated. Response to parental or familial trauma has been a leading contribution to mental health disorders like PTSD and anxiety, especially in these war based experiences. One study indicated how in the situation of the passing of a father figure during the conflict, the PTSD symptoms of the mother were lessening over time while with children it was increasing. Another study indicated the retention of a dam catastrophe sparking a stress factor in the mind of a child, which added up and evolved into greater trauma over time. By studying the stressors and effects of war experiences on youth mental health, we can greater understand that of parents as well due to the conflict transcending over time with the same repetitions and same worries building as a constant. Additionally, by understanding how to effectively treat the spread of constant trauma in youth, it enables relations to further into peace and create a change in the conflict where there is compromise instead of build up in the negative. Youth fuels the future and as seen by the continued conflict, by using mental health counseling measures for the current youth in the conflicted regions we can see a significant increase in peace and decrease in extremity, in regards to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

Work Cited:

Ayer, L., Venkatesh, B., Stewart, R., Mandel, D., Stein, B., & Schoenbaum, M. (2015). Psychological Aspects of the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict: A Systematic Review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 18(3), 322–338. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838015613774

Feliciana, Jeffray (2011) “The Palestenian-Israeli conflict and its impact on the mental health of youth,” Modern Psychological Studies: Vol. 16 : №2 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol16/iss2/5