Every perpetrator of terrorism considers himself a victim. This is the case not only for individuals, but also for terrorist groups and nation states. ---- Terrorism is psychological warfare and therefore requires a psychologically informed response. ---- Those who study trauma know that"hurt people hurt people", obviously this also applies to terrorists.
People who live in a state of existential anxiety are prone todehumanize others. Hamas, for example, calls Israelis "infidels." WhileIsraeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant defined Hamas members as "humananimals". And both sides called each other "Nazis."ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT AND TERRORISMIs it possible then to give up the impulse to punish indiscriminately,is it possible to overcome the human impulse to retaliate? Doing sorequires leaders to be able to reach divided communities and providehope in a seemingly hopeless time. It is necessary to understand that alegacy of trauma makes Israeli Jews and Palestinians vulnerable toreactive violence, leading to a seemingly endless cycle of bloodshed.Although terrorists rarely achieve their political goals, they oftensucceed in achieving one goal: forcing the enemy to overreact.Terrorists seek to provoke a disproportionate response, hoping to gainsympathy and radicalize a new generation of young victims. Hamasexemplified this strategy when it attacked Israel on October 7,triggering in many Israelis the intergenerational memory of the traumasof pogroms, the Holocaust and expulsions from European countries, Egypt,Iran, Iraq and Yemen. Israel's indiscriminate retaliatory airstrikes inGaza, which have killed thousands of people and displaced hundreds ofthousands more, have made Palestinians relive the nakba (Arabic for"catastrophe"), the violent displacement of Palestinians during theformation of the State of Israel in 1948.THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT IS A TRAPBoth Israelis and Palestinians are now stuck in a trap created by Hamas.A traumatic embrace of death and desperation, in which each party - whounderstandably sees themselves as victims - feels righteous anger anddesires retribution, vies for global sympathy.For Israel it is too late for a limited response. According to the GazaMinistry of Health, Israel has killed more than 15,000 people, more thantwo-thirds of whom are women and children. The costs of theIsraeli-Palestinian conflict will long endure, both in the immediatevictims and in the surviving children, whose developing minds will beforever shaped by exposure to this egregious violence and the loss ofloved ones.This applies to both Israelis and Palestinians. There is not only amoral reason for a ceasefire, but also a strategic one, born from theinsights of trauma psychology.Violence brings more violencePopulations that suffer terrorism naturally coalesce around theirnational, tribal or religious identities and ask their leaders forrevenge. But massive punishment rarely works. In fact, adisproportionate response to terrorism usually generates even moreterrorist attacks.In 1986, for example, terrorists acting on behalf of the Libyangovernment bombed a nightclub in Germany popular with U.S. militarypersonnel, killing three people and wounding more than 200. Inretaliation, the United States killed dozens of people in a campaign ofbombings against Libya which targeted military facilities and theresidence of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. According to a study bypolitical scientist Stephen Collins, the US retaliatory raid led to afourfold increase in casualties. Libyan-backed terrorists killed 599people in the four years following the US response, compared to 136people in the previous four years.THE CASE OF THE IRAThe Irish Republican Army also thrived in the face of aggressive staterepression. In 1968, the IRA (Irish Republican Army) seemed to be at anend, but over the next two decades it would grow to become the mostfinanced terrorist group in the West. In 1969, Catholics rebelledagainst rampant discrimination by the Protestant majority in NorthernIreland. The riot was instigated, in part, by the IRA. Over the nextfour years, Protestant extremists drove around 6,000 Catholics fromtheir homes, in what was at the time the largest case of ethniccleansing in Europe since World War II. The displacement increasedsupport for the IRA cause.According to terrorism scholar Andrew Silke, "the IRA itself worked toprovoke harsh measures from the security forces, aware of the benefitsthat would accrue in terms of support and recruitment." When the grouprioted in Belfast's Ballymurphy neighborhood in 1970, for example,security forces responded with widespread use of tear gas, alienatingthe area's Catholics. Silke notes that the security forces "did not havethe restraint necessary to win the propaganda war." As Seán MacStiofáin,an IRA leader, wrote in 1975, "most revolutions are caused not byrevolutionaries, but by the stupidity and brutality of governments." Hewas right. By responding so aggressively, British forces and NorthernIrish police walked into a trap set by the IRA.FIGHTING THE HYDRAGovernments continue to fall into similar traps. Academics often compareterrorist organizations to a Hydra, the serpent from Greek mythology.Every time the State tries to cut off the Hydra's head, two more grow inits place.More than 20 years ago, Ismail Abu Shanab, founder and senior member ofHamas, told Jessica Stern that the "genius" of the Israeli-Palestinianconflict is that it feeds on Israel's "atrocities." If Israelintensifies the fight against Hamas, she will only excite Hamas andother Palestinian terrorist groups. Thus risking involving Hezbollah,the Lebanese militant group, or even Iran.How to resistHamas leaders have always been willing to let young Palestinians die tocarry out suicide attacks. In 1996, Israeli security services killedYahya Ayyash, Hamas' top bomb disposal expert, with a booby-trapped cellphone. Later, his deputy, Hassan Salameh, organized the deadliest seriesof suicide bombings Israel had known up to that point, killing more than60 people. Salameh explained that he felt no remorse for the lives ofthe young Palestinians who died in the attacks, saying: "The terriblethings that have happened to the Palestinian people are much bigger andmuch stronger than sorrow or guilt."Suicide bombings increased again during the second intifada, which beganin 2000. Palestinian terrorist attacks killed around 1,000 Israelis overthe next five years. While the Israelis killed around 3,000 Palestiniansin response. Also in reaction to the second intifada, Israel built aseemingly impenetrable wall on the border with the West Bank. Thusattracting condemnation from the International Court of Justice and theUnited Nations for isolating the Palestinians, leading to accusationsthat Israel has created an apartheid state similar to white supremacistSouth Africa.ESCALATION OF VIOLENCE IN THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICTHamas is willing to sacrifice the lives not only of individual suicidebombers, but also of thousands of civilians. Hamas publicly predictedthat the October 7 attack would lead to the deaths of numerousPalestinians. Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, told the NewYork Times in November that the group knew the reaction to its attack"would be great." Hamas desperately wanted to break the status quo andbring the Palestinian issue back to the world stage.Many analysts had warned that violence would erupt under the governmentof Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most right-wing inIsrael's history. In April, Michael Barnett, Nathan Brown, Marc Lynchand Shibley Telhami argued in Foreign Affairs that "the risk oflarge-scale violent clashes grows every day that Palestinians are lockedinto this system of legalized oppression and ever-expanding Israeliinvasion ". The October 7 attack was horrific and predictable.Terrorism is psychological warfare and therefore requires apsychologically informed responseThe interests of the Palestinians would probably be better served iftheir leaders chose nonviolent resistance rather than terrorism.Historian Rashid Khalidi noted that although the Jewish people have an"indisputable connection" to the Holy Land, "Israel was founded as aEuropean colonial project."Although all native peoples resist colonization - whether Algerian,Irish or Native American - the Palestinian struggle is complicated bythe history of persecution against the Jewish people. Because of thishistory, armed resistance appears to be particularly counterproductivein the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, despite having worked in otheranti-colonial wars. As scholar Edward Said has argued, Palestinians are"the victims of victims,NONVIOLENCEIn general, nonviolence tends to be the most effective means ofresistance. According to a study by political scientists Erica Chenowethand Maria Stephan, between 1900 and 2006, nonviolent resistancecampaigns were twice as likely to achieve their stated goals as violentones. But these strategies can only work if Palestinians reject violencein favor of nonviolent protest and if Israel lets Palestinians protestnonviolently.Take for example the African National Congress, the political party thatended the apartheid regime in South Africa. The ANC has largelyabstained from terrorism against civilians. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi'snonviolent resistance in India, the movement was intimately linked tothe realization that a country conceived in bloodshed would remaintrapped in an endless cycle of ethnic violence. As journalist PeterBeinart argued, "he refused to terrorize and traumatize white SouthAfricans because he wasn't trying to force them to leave. He was tryingto win them over to a vision of a multiracial democracy."Hamas, unlike the ANC, does not have a vision of a multi-ethnic state,hence its disinterest in non-violent resistance. The group's goal,according to its founding documents, is to destroy Israel, exterminatethe Jews and establish a theocratic state. Israel's current right-winggovernment also appears uninterested in creating a multi-ethnic statewith equal rights for Israeli Jews and Palestinians, thus ensuringcontinued conflict.Terrorism and psychological consequencesThe best way for a government to fight terrorist movements is to avoidkilling civilians, otherwise the cycle of victimization only generatesmore terrorists. Breaking the intergenerational cycle of violence willrequire an Israeli approach that scrupulously avoids civiliancasualties. Pressure from foreign governments can also be helpful. TheUnited States, for example, should require the protection of civiliansas a condition for sending weapons to Israel. And they should deny visasto Israelis living in illegal settlements.When people have experienced chronic terror, their minds become quick todetect danger and they tend to react forcefully to even minorprovocations. Shared trauma creates strong bonds between survivors.Furthermore, it leads to an "us versus them" orientation, in which theoutside world is perceived (often rightly) as hostile. And only peoplewho belong to the same tribe, religion or ethnicity are consideredtrustworthy and loyal.Growing up in terror, whether caused by domestic or political violence,leaves deep marks on developing minds, brains, and identities.Identifying and addressing threats becomes a central concern at theexpense of the ability to work and play. To break the intergenerationalcycle of trauma it is necessary to stop the violence and develop empathyin those who have suffered the trauma.Whatever your next move, it will be important to keep in mind that,after being hurt, hate can be enormously activating. While mourning,reciprocity and reconciliation are profoundly complex and laboriousprocesses. But they are the only hope for interrupting theintergenerational transmission of violence.Source:https://formazionecontinuainpsicologia.it/conflitto-israelo-palestinese-costruire-pace/https://ponte.noblogs.org/2024/3515/conflitto-israelo-palestinese-la-pratica-terapeutica-per-la-pace/_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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