Page 36 - Issue 62

Ramadan Vol.1 Issue 62 December 2023 ELITE

Kareem

Children of Palestine and the hidden

consequences of war
Sara Basheer, Economics, 2ND LEVEL

Under war circumstances, children who Also, being dehumanized through blockade and
survived war in Palestine are threatened by restrictions that lead to having limited access to
profound psychological effects beside the basic human needs starting from food to healthcare
physical injuries and disabilities. During war, services, consequently they go through daily
children eyewitness their parents, who provide struggles for basic needs. All of those tragedies that
them with the sense of security, family they go through make them end up suffering from
many mental disorders including anxiety disorder
members and friends getting either brutally and depression. One of the most common and
killed or held as hostages. It was found that threatening disorder children in Palestine suffer
55% of Palestinian children reported having at from is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
least one friend or family member die due to What worsens the situation is that those children
political or military violence. Experiencing loss and young people do not have the privilege to have

at that age with no emotional support or even the appropriate healing process from what they
the space and time to process their own went through even after the war ends.
emotions due to the successive attacks induce A team reported in a 2013 study, the Palestinian
emotional distress. The traumatic events they children had the highest levels of PTSD symptoms.
get exposed to include airstrikes, bombings, The consequences of children growing with PTSD
terror attacks, military operations and being are drastic, it leads to hyperarousal even in less
dangerous and stressful situations. A lot of
stuck under the rubble for hours or even days conducted research have shown the linkage
without understanding or realizing where they between PTSD and committing criminal behaviors.
are. Moreover, they even have amputations According to a conducted study on the relationship
and operations without anesthesia. between PTSD and criminal prospenity , victims of
PTSD develop a fight-or-flight response due to
being in a constant state of fear which leads them to
show more tendency to taking revenge and
committing actual crimes. At the end, it is always
children who pay the cost of wars, our silence, our
reluctance to set an end to violence.
Eventually, resorting to achieving peace is the
only possible way to assure the safety and well-
36 being of the upcoming generations, so that they
do not be