Foinse: Monatóir an Mheán-Oirthear
Protesters holding up a Palestinian flag. West Bank, Palestinian Territories, Palestine, May 15,2021
Photo by abu adel – photo/Shutterstock
After Saturday’s bombing raids in the heart of Gaza City killing at least 43 people including 10 children and 16 women, Gazans are once again struggling with traumatic memories. The atrocities that are happening now bring memories. Israeli planes have shattered our families so many terrifying and memorable times for decades. For instance, over and over again for three weeks during Cast Lead in December 2008 and January 2009; seven weeks in July and August 2014.
Is radhairc thrámacha iad bloic na bhfoirgneamh atá ag titim agus poill bhearnaithe i Sráid Alwehdah mar a raibh gnáthshaol seachtain ó shin, rud a spreagann cuimhní cinn ar na huaireanta sin roimhe seo.
Today there are hundreds of injured people to be cared for in our crowded hospitals which are desperately short of many supplies because of the years of the Israeli siege. Huge efforts are ongoing by the community to search for people under the wreckage of the buildings.
Among the people who were killed: Dr Moen Al-Aloul, a retired psychiatrist who treated thousands of Gazans at the Ministry of Health; Mrs Raja’ Abu-Alouf a devoted psychologist who was killed together with her husband and children; Dr Ayman Abu Alouf, with his wife and two children, an internal medicine consultant who was leading the team treating patients with COVID at Shifa hospital.
Ní féidir dearmad a dhéanamh ar chuimhní cinn ar gach tráma roimhe seo toisc go mbíonn mothú sábháilteachta i gcónaí ag gach duine againn i nGaza. Níor fhág drones Iosrael an spéir os ár gcomhair riamh idir 2014 agus 2021. Lean sceitheadh ag tarlú le linn oícheanta randamacha. Cé gur annamh a tharla an lomadh, ba leor gach uair gach a raibh nochtaithe dúinn a mheabhrú dúinn agus a bheidh arís.
The weekend’s attack took place without any warning. It’s yet another massacre. Just an evening earlier ten people were killed including eight children and two women. One family of seven was wiped out except for just the father and a three-month-old baby. The father lived because he was not at home, and the baby was saved after being found under the wreckage, protected by his mother’s body.
These are not new scenes for Gazans, unfortunately. This is something that keeps happening throughout these offensives. During the 2014 offensive, it was reported that 80 families were killed with no one left alive, just removing them from the records. In 2014 in one single attack, Israel destroyed a three-story building that belongs to my extended family, killing 27 people including 17 children and three pregnant women. Four families were simply not there anymore. A father and a four-year-old son were the only survivors.
Anois tá an nuacht agus na heagla faoi ionradh talún a d’fhéadfadh a bheith ann ag cur os ár gcomhair le cuimhní cinn tubaisteacha eile agus muid ag tabhairt aghaidh ar gach uafás nua.
I measc ionsaí barbarach amháin bhí 160 scaird-chomhraiceoir ag ionsaí ar feadh níos mó ná 40 nóiméad i gceantair an-thuaidh de Stráice Gaza, in éineacht le lomadh airtléire (500 sliogán) a bhuail an taobh thoir de Chathair Gaza agus ceantair thuaidh. Scriosadh go leor tithe, cé go raibh formhór na ndaoine in ann éalú óna dtithe. Meastar go bhfuil suas le 40,000 duine tar éis dul arís chuig scoileanna UNRWA nó chuig gaolta, ag lorg foscadh.
I gcás fhormhór na Gazans, is meabhrúchán é seo den chéad ionsaí i 2008. Dé Sathairn 11.22 am a bhí ann nuair a thosaigh 60 scaird-chomhraiceoir ag buamáil Stráice Gaza ag déanamh uafás ar gach duine. Ag an nóiméad sin, bhí an chuid is mó de leanaí scoile ar na sráideanna ag filleadh ó aistriú na maidine nó ag dul chuig an aistriú tráthnóna. Cé gur thosaigh leanaí ag rith, go raibh eagla orthu, ar na sráideanna, ní raibh a dtuismitheoirí sa bhaile ar an eolas faoi cad a tharla dá gcuid leanaí.
Is meabhrúchán pianmhar do theaghlaigh atá á n-easáitiú anois an díláithriú ollmhór in 2014 nuair a díláithríodh 500,000 duine go hinmheánach. Agus nuair a tháinig an sos cogaidh, ní fhéadfadh 108,000 filleadh ar a dtithe scriosta.
People have now to deal with triggers to all these previous traumatic events and more. This makes natural healing processes more complicated and in some cases causes a relapse of symptoms. We always try to explain that Gazans are not in a post-traumatic condition, but in an leanúnach riocht ar gá aird níos doimhne a thabhairt air.
Teastaíonn an idirghabháil cheart uaidh seo. Ní idirghabháil chliniciúil, ach idirghabháil mhorálta agus pholaitiúil é. Idirghabháil ón domhan lasmuigh. Idirghabháil a chuireann deireadh le fréamh na faidhbe. Ceann a chuireann deireadh leis an ngairm, agus a thugann ár gceart daonna dúinn ar ghnáthshaol teaghlaigh atá fréamhaithe i mothú na sábháilteachta nach bhfuil a fhios ag aon leanbh nó teaghlach i nGaza.
Tá a lán daoine inár bpobal ag glaoch orainn sa chlinic ón gcéad lá. Daoine a bhí ag obair in ospidéil, nó in earnáil na n-eagraíochtaí neamhrialtasacha, a bhí i gcuid acu. Rinne cuid acu achomharc trínár leathanach Facebook ag fiafraí díobh faoi sheirbhísí GCMHP mar go bhfeiceann siad daoine trámáilte ar gach taobh, agus go mbraitheann siad géarghá lenár seirbhísí.
Our staff is part of the community. Some of them had to leave their homes. They need to feel safe and be secure in order to help others. But still, without that safety, they are still devoted to the organization and to the community. They feel a great responsibility for their vital role in supporting the psychological wellbeing of Gazans. They are totally and tirelessly available.
Over the weekend we made public the mobile numbers of most of our technical staff. On Sunday our toll-free line resumed operating, and from 8 am to 8 pm it will be ringing these days. Our FB page started to raise awareness for parents on how to help deal with children and stress. It is true that we have not had the chance to prepare new material, but our library is a very rich one with our products and it’s time to harvest the wisdom and support in our YouTube library. Perhaps this is not our best intervention, but definitely, it is the most that we can do in these circumstances to provide Gazans with strength and skills in coping inside their terrified families.
As of Sunday evening, 197 people have already been killed, including 58 children, 34 women, 15 elderly people, and 1,235 are injured. As a psychiatrist, I can say that the invisible psychological toll on everyone from the youngest to the oldest is acute – from fear and stress.
It is a moral imperative for the world to look straight at us, see us, and commit to intervention to save Gazans’ valuable creative lives by giving them the sense of safety every human needs.
Is trí fhlaithiúlacht a léitheoirí amháin a mhaoinítear ZNetwork.
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