Palestinian children don't get PTSD

[Katy231]

This really got to me today.

"In Gaza there is no post (traumatic) because the trauma is repetitive and ongoing and continuous."

I feel so sorry for these children and I can't believe our government is supporting this genocide.

This conflict is so often reminding me of what I've read about ww2. Ive never read anything that reminds me so much of the nazis brutality but Israel is doing things that remind me of what rhe nazis did, that i honestly thought id never ever hear about again. I seen on a documentary how the nazis worked out how many calories the people in auchwitz could live on to keep them alive for 6 weeks. As generally they killed them after this. I remember thinking how cold and clinical and abhorrent to think of anything so utterly inhuman.
Reading that quoted post gave me shivers. Im not comparing Israel to the nazis as i dont/cant comprehend any regime that will ever be as evil, but a lot of what Israel are doing feels like what sick people are capable of when they arent being checked and brought back to basic human decency through international intervention.
What im basically saying is ive never compared what went on in ww2 to whats going on now, in a way that i do now.

For starters ...

... and I am going to be "deliberately uncontroversial" here. There are a whole bunch of personal beliefs I hold that go further, but I will not make them the subject of this post:

1. Today, right now: the government of Israel could decide to decisively and brutally crack down upon West Bank settlers and their attempts to ethnically cleanse, terrorise, hurt and kill Palestinians! They could, at the absolute very minimum, stop a) deploying IDF troops to "protect" violent settlers as they terrorise Palestinian villagers and, b) they could immediately stop handing out free assault rifles to those people (this is something the extremist government minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is pushing).
2. Israel could actually start to - see point 1) above - holding these people accountable,
3. They could be responding to the Gaza situation in a way that looks less like "blatant, baying for blood revenge" and more like a carefully planned operation. Someone please educate me as to the hows and whys ... Israel had no issues taking out numerous leaders in "targetted assassinations" in the past - but apparently, they have all of a sudden completely lost all of those superior capabilities. Now it is all "flatten a whole neighbourhood on the off chance that one Hamas commander might be there". It stinks of "revenge" and of "blood thirst"! Israel could stop that! If they could find and assassinate Yassin, they can Sinwar!
4. Their spokespeople could stop blatantly lying - it would REALLY hep the PR exercise! This is, genuinely, getting sort of embarrassing!

Just a few ideas ... as said above: I have many more - a lot of which would be "political" or "controversial". But the above really should NOT be ...

Point 1&2 yes, I agree, as do lots of Israelis. The current govt isn't very popular in Israel atm. I am most concerned with the safety of my family in Israel. To leave Hamas in power firing rockets at Israel daily isn't an option anymore. So they need to be taken out, it seems the tunnels they live in make that hard so I can't comment on military decisions.

Surely even pro Israel supporters see another response rather than this genocide happening before us? I know no one has the answers and its a total mess. But surely there must be a better way of responding to a horrific attack like 0ct 7th that doesn't involve thousands and thousands of people dying and being starved into submission? Surely even the most pro Israel supporters are looking at this and thinking its not right?

Israel is definitely creating another generation of terrorists. No doubt about it.
And do you really think they can destroy Hamas? There will be leaders hiding out in other countries well away from Palestine.

That's why I don't see this as a fair response. It seems to me to be unfairly targeting innocent civilians.

Of course they have other options. At the very least they could provide genuine safe areas instead of deliberately sending people to supposed safe places and then bombing them. And it is beyond cruel to deprive people of food and WATER. It is utterly inhumane and seems like a deliberate ploy to degrade and humiliate them.

Yep. And that is similar to what happened to the jewish people in ww2 as i said earlier. Nothing has reminded me of ww2 so much as this conflict.

I have no words. I can’t imagine what they’ve seen with their own eyes. The losses they’ve suffered, physical disabilities and the mental scars.

Yes, I know even a lot of Israelis agree! In case I have not said this often enough: Israeli leftists have been a major force in educating me in my own thinking on this issue; I regard many of them as my teachers and mentors - along with Palestinian leftists.

I am really sorry and genuinely empathise with your concern for family in Israel - you may find it hard to believe, but I really do! People I consider "family" live on the occupied West Bank. One of them languishes in prison and is due to be released in a few months (to be fair: I have things to say about this, too - but, again, I will not). I have a hard time falling asleep at night because I think of them every minute! I guess that is how you must feel and ... it is NOT a nice feeling!

But, yeah ... it just makes me think: why does everyone say "there can be no future as long as Hamas exists" (I am not a Hamas apologist - I just happen to be speaking from the intellectual safe-zone of "disliked Hamas when Bibi thought they were brilliant"), and noone says "there can be no future unless Netanyahu, Smotrich, Ben-Gvir, and their ilk are removed from power, too"?

Because, really: the latter are extremists, too! How could any Palestinian ever feel safe with Ben-Gvir in charge of policing the West Bank?

This is what gives me chills... How must the Palestinian people feel knowing the world is watching and approving this.

How would you feel as a human, knowing that you can be degraded down to nothing and world leaders don't care.

One thing that gives me hope is that slowly people are realising. I also include myself in that group. I didn't realise what the situation in Palestine was like and now that I know, I can't un-know.

The issue may not be solved today or tomorrow but certainly more people are becoming educated on this matter. Certainly things will change in years to come as they always do.

@Katy231 I'm afraid I am much more cynical than you. Israel has never been held to account for anything it does. Even Arab states are forming ties now with Israel and the West has very clearly shown how strong its loyalty is. They will do what they like and the Palestinians will be even more subjugated.

I am not an expert on the issue but I don't think Israel can carry on the way it is. All it is doing is breeding hate on both sides. Even if they wipe out Palestine, the Palestinian people will always remain. The area will never be conflict free if Israel carry on this way.

Thanks for posting OP. I remember reading a book about Palestine in the early 80s. The children then photographed amidst destruction and ruins are probably grandparents now, if they have survived .It is shocking to think their grandchildren are being subjected to trauma, another generation not allowed to live in peace. Sometimes its hard to find the words to describe how horrific this all is .

100%

You seem to be in the know so maybe you can answer, if 'lots of Israelis' agree that the settlers are bads news then why has it been going on for so long? I genuinely can't understand this. How can 'lots of Israelis' be against it but its actually getting worse not better. Israel is a democracy right? I've looked to see if there have been mass protests against it over the years but all I can find is reference to protests with 'a few hundred' or 'several dozen' protesters. Has there been mass protests(by mass protests I mean 10s of 1000s of people) against it? What have these 'lots of Israelis' actually done about it and why in a modern democratic country has nothing changed if 'lots of Israelis' feel strongly about it?

Yes.

And?

Looking for anti sémites are you?

On a website for parents who have a little compassion for the children of Gaza?

Or would you prefer to take that little compassion away from them too?

odfod

You are extremely dishonest.

You do nothing for your cause.

You actually harm it.

TW:

I've been extremely upset today and had to step away from X. I saw a young child lying on the hospital floor disemboweled. I saw a man carrying a child to the medics in desperation as the child's unblinking eyes were frozen upwards in shock.

I read updates from the last surviving journalists still operating in Gaza, risking their lives to document the horror and onslaught in their besieged city, and I wonder if they will make it to another day. Motaz, Bisan and Ismail Jood have posted heartbreaking messages today as if they're pretty certain they will die in the coming days or weeks. How the f*ck can this be allowed to happen?

@Longsuffering123 I absolutely agree with you. Sad and awful. Yet some on this thread and elsewhere still happy to cheer it on and try to heartlessly, shamefully distract from Palestinian suffering. "But Hamas" simply doesn't cut the mustard. No excuse for genocide, war crimes and running a racist apartheid state, Israeli govt, or any MN users pushing for the same.

Especially ashamed at certain posters trying to derail and deflect from any highlighting of Palestinian suffering by bleating on the same stuff on every single thread. No nuance, nothing new, just the same derailing and lack of empathy.

We will keep posting. You can't stop us highlighting this injustice.

I never realised how badly the children in Palestine were treated by the IDF. I'm even more surprised at how well documented it all is. There are reports of children's heads being flushed down toilets in the prisons. I can't believe a country that imprisons children and without a trial is supported so much.

The Israeli government and IDF are very corrupt and abusive.