In light of the mental health crisis affecting nearly everyone in Gaza, including medical staff, how long can resilience and steadfastness last?
An Israeli court postponed a hearing for Ahmad Manasra for the third time on Wednesday, forcing him back into solitary confinement. “The world needs to move urgently, time is not on our side. Every day that passes is a loss,” Manasra’s lawyer Khaled Zabarqa tells Mondoweiss.
Most children in Gaza experience PTSD, and this has also impacted the children in Ahmed Dremly’s family, as he watches his young cousin, Little Mansour, struggle to cope with the loss of his grandfather.
On the occasion of World Mental Health Day, Tamam Abusalama reflects on Palestinians’ personal and collective trauma: “Nearly 20 years after the eruption of the Second Intifada, I still freak out each time I hear ambulance sirens and thunder, or see a soldier or a helicopter. My heart beats so fast that it takes me back to Gaza, trapped with my people and my family during war.”
A wave of suicides in the Gaza Strip over the summer including the death of Hamza Abu Al-Tarabeesh’s cherished friend Suleiman al-Ajoury at 23 has led to endless questions among his peers about disappointment, loneliness and unbearable living conditions.
Raising a three-year-old can be challenging for any parent. But parenting in Palestine comes with its own set of obstacles that extend far beyond answering tough questions.
Walaa Ghussein speaks with other young Palestinians who have left Gaza in recent years about how they deal with the ongoing trauma of war in occupation. “I later realized that I’m never ‘post’ my traumas,” Heba Al Hayek tells her. “As a Palestinian, I’m never given a real chance to process because I’m still there even if my body isn’t.”
On June 9, Palestinian mental health professionals met to launch the Palestine-Global Mental Health Network in an effort to support their people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health, and to reclaim their power and self-determination.