Our Wednesday News Analysis | The missing children of Gaza

Children sitting amidst the rubble of their home after it was targeted by Israeli airstrikes in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza strip, 14 May 2023

Countless children are missing in Gaza.

"The unknown is every parent’s worst fear. Thousands of families in Gaza face the trauma of waiting for news that isn’t coming. This type of loss is known by psychologists as "ambiguous loss" and is considered the most stressful type.

Israeli parents whose loved ones continue to be held hostage are also experiencing this type of loss.

Families are being denied closure – and will continue to hope that the missing person will return. Coping and grieving – processes that are essential for emotional recovery – are put on hold. It could lead to chronic hyper-vigilance, sorrow, anxiety or depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, addiction, or abuse.

Families and friends are denied the right to mourn, honor their loved ones, and bury them properly.

To make matters worse, the family’s loss may go unmarked in the eyes of the law, meaning that if peace does come, they may never get accountability.

Thousands are presumed dead beneath the rubble. Others have been harmed beyond recognition by explosives, buried in unmarked or mass graves, or gone missing in the chaos of conflict. We may never know what happened to some of these children. But every one of them had a story, a family, and dreams stolen from them...

Read more: The missing children of Gaza

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THE COLLAPSE OF ZIONISM

Source: Sidecar, the New Left Review blog
https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/the-collapse-of-zionism

By ILAN PAPPÉ
21 JUNE 2024 - POLITICS

Netanyahu with the recruits (Photo: Amos Ben Gershom/L.A.M.)

"… the collapse of Israel has become foreseeable

… the century-long attempt, led by Britain and then the US, to impose a Jewish state on an Arab country is slowly coming to an end
… their presence still depends, as it did when they arrived, on their ability to violently impose their will on millions of Indigenous people who have never given up their struggle for self-determination and freedom in their homeland.
.. the settlers will have to part with this approach and show their willingness to live as equal citizens in a liberated and decolonized Palestine."

Hamas’s assault of October 7 can be likened to an earthquake that strikes an old building. The cracks were already beginning to show, but they are now visible in its very foundations. More than 120 years since its inception, could the Zionist project in Palestine – the idea of imposing a Jewish state on an Arab, Muslim and Middle Eastern country – be facing the prospect of collapse? Historically, a plethora of factors can cause a state to capsize. It can result from constant attacks by neighbouring countries or from chronic civil war. It can follow the breakdown of public institutions, which become incapable of providing services to citizens. Often it begins as a slow process of disintegration that gathers momentum and then, in a short period of time, brings down structures that once appeared solid and steadfast.

The difficulty lies in spotting the early indicators. Here, I will argue that these are clearer than ever in the case of Israel. We are witnessing a historical process – or, more accurately, the beginnings of one – that is likely to culminate in the downfall of Zionism. And, if my diagnosis is correct, then we are also entering a particularly dangerous conjuncture. For once Israel realizes the magnitude of the crisis, it will unleash ferocious and uninhibited force to try to contain it, as did the South African apartheid regime during its final days...

Read more: The Collapse of Zionism

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PALESTINE LETTER: TO REPORT FROM PALESTINE IS TO WORK WITH ONGOING COLLECTIVE TRAUMA

Source: Mondoweiss
https://mondoweiss.net/2024/06/palestine-letter-to-report-from-palestine-is-to-work-with-ongoing-collective-trauma/

By QASSAM MUADDI
Published June 26, 2024

To be a Palestinian journalist is to constantly engage in the trauma of our people. It is difficult but essential work because telling our story is necessary to prevent our destruction.

MOTHER OF TWO STUDENTS KILLED BY ISRAELI FORCES IN NOVEMBER 2022 AT THEIR MOURNING CEREMONY IN BIRZEIT UNIVERSITY, RAMALLAH. (PHOTO: QASSAM MUADDI)

I was in sixth grade when Palestine was going through the Second Intifada. This is when I decided to become a journalist.

"One of the reasons behind my decision was the idea, held by most Palestinians, that our story wasn’t heard enough.

It is the idea that our narrative as a people and as individuals was absent from public debate and people’s awareness in most of the world.

To be a journalist, for me, and for many Palestinian millennials who followed the same path, meant to bring our people’s ongoing story to be part of the world’s consciousness and common memory."

In recent years, I have discovered what this job has meant in reality. By trying to dig as deep as possible into the Palestinian past and present, reporting and writing on Palestine means being in close contact with the constant, self-renewing, overwhelming collective and individual trauma of Palestinians.

Since late 2021, the West Bank has been experiencing a new wave of upheaval, brought about by the failure of past political attempts to maintain stability without ending the occupation—a story repeated many times since 1967.

The expansion of Israeli settlements, the growing Israeli military brutality against Palestinians, and the deteriorating economic situation have led a young generation of Palestinians to look for ways to confront the occupation. Local armed groups began to spring up in refugee camps and other communities, while Israeli military raids skyrocketed in number and in violence. And with each raid, people were killed, maimed, and brutally detained. And the trauma grew...

Read more: Palestine Letter: To report from Palestine is to work with ongoing collective trauma