The Israel-Hamas Conflict's Effects on Mental Health

Background

Since February 2022, media and news reports on international events have focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Updates center chiefly on both sides’ progress, the war’s cost to the US Treasury, and America’s role. It spurs debate and online social chatter, but otherwise, it has not disrupted society. Since the early weeks of October 2023, however, America and the world have focused on the conflict between Hamas in Gaza and Israel, and although 6,700+ miles separate America and Israel, this event is played out in regular protests on university and college campuses, on social networks, and street demonstrations.

America has 7.6 million Jews, the second largest population outside Israel, with 9.7 million (Jews account for a mere .2% (16.1 million) of the world’s 8.1 billion people). With significant proportions concentrated in major urban areas like New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, they are more visible and easier to identify. Those who support Hamas and the Palestinian people have focused their protest efforts on American Jews directly, even if they are not Zionists, holding them accountable for events in a sovereign nation across the ocean. This dynamic has manifested itself in particularly unsettling ways for Jewish students, who are regularly targeted.

Vitrioloc Protests

At Cooper Union College in NYC, a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched toward the school’s library, where Jewish students were present. Upon hearing the demonstrators, the students locked themselves into the library because they were significantly outnumbered and were concerned for their safety. It was a wise move, as 100 protestors beat on the locked doors and chanted, “Let us in,” and called for the elimination of the State of Israel. The trapped students called 911, but the NYC police were turned away from Cooper Union security to the ire of the students and their parents.

At Cornell University, a history professor can be heard speaking about how Hamas’s attack on Israel, where 9,500 rockets, missiles, and drones were fired, killing 1,400 Israeli citizens and wounding 7,198, was ‘exhilarating and energizing.’ At Stanford University, there are reports of students being singled out for being Jewish and forced to stand to the side in class to demonstrate what “colonization” looks like. Throughout the nation, there are ongoing reports of professors making antisemitic remarks in classes.

Jewish groups have responded by posting on lampposts and power poles images of the 200 hostages (as of this writing) being held by Hamas in Gaza. These posts have led to contentious 1:1 interactions as pro-Palestinian supporters tear the pictures down — even those of small children.

The instances above are just a tiny sampling of the daily protests in person and online. Many of these protests use targeted language, e.g., “from the river to the sea,” which is a call for the elimination of the State of Israel. Others have called for a “jihad” (holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty) against Israel.

Although I have illustrated examples from America, similar instances are occurring in England, France, Ireland, and other countries. What is the collective effect of all this on the mental well-being of Jews? Even if one is not an Israeli, the language and vitriol are stark reminders of a not-too-distant past that segued into one of the darkest periods of the 20th century.

Hamas kidnaped Yagil Jacob. His poster was defaced by Pro-Palestinian supporters.

Why It’s Different for Jews

Jewish children are taught about the Holocaust. In contrast, sixty-three percent (63%) of Americans under 40 who were surveyed did not know that 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, and over half of those thought the death toll was fewer than 2 million. Some Jewish schools, on Yom Hashua (Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day), bring Holocaust survivors to speak to the students. I have attended similar events, and the stories are imprinted on your conscience for years. There was a Holocaust survivor I heard speak; she and her brothers were on a train to Auschwitz, and, sensing they were going to die, managed to open the rail car door and jumped out of the moving train. They lived in the Polish forest for two years and miraculously survived. She was just a young girl at the time and dealt with the pain of hunger, lack of shelter, and the loss of her parents by singing a children’s song. This 90+-year-old sang that children’s song at the end of her talk. You could hear a pin drop. Her voice was beautiful, innocent, hopeful, and filled the room. She had an elegance and resiliency that is difficult to describe, but one could see and sense it.

Imagine hearing such stories every year, starting from a young age, as Jews do. There is a saying in Judaism, “Never forget,” and it means Jews should never fail to remember what happened throughout history to them. Many don’t. But with this ongoing learning comes a visual of pogroms, expulsions, torture, beatings, murder, larceny, and extermination. Hamas and their supporters, Iran, have made their intentions clear: the elimination of the Jewish State and its People.

Whether on college campuses, primary schools, at street protests, on social media, in biased news reporting, and more, Jews are hit left and right by people wanting to eliminate them. This brings enormous stress, mainly because of the protests’ rapid, open-ended, and corrosive nature. It is especially challenging for those who do not have the necessary context and coping skills.

I recently attended a meeting of educators from Israel, and they shared what life is like for the children. If they are from the south (near Gaza), they are being relocated to Jerusalem, where they live in a hotel with one of their parents (some parents have been separated due to one of them being called up by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) for reserve service). Separated from at least one parent and subject to daily barrages of missile and rocket attacks from Gaza, children are suffering from mental trauma. Throughout Israel, sirens can sound at any time, signaling that residents have a fleeting 90 seconds to get to a bomb shelter. In schools, imagine trying to corralle 900+ students into a bomb shelter in that amount of time.

Across Israel, the #1 health issue is mental trauma. So great is the need for psychologists that students are being deployed immediately to start counseling while still working on their degrees. Anecdotally, I asked American Jews how they were doing, and one constant I’m hearing is the increase in nightmares.

Empathic Civil Discourse is Needed

One of the challenges for our society with the Hamas-Israel conflict is understanding the historical, religious, and cultural context of the Israelis, Palestinians, and Hamas. With all the protests, this is a rare opportunity to step back, teach society about this conflict without emotion, and discuss the issues pragmatically. I recommend that universities lead this charge. They have the resources and know-how to make it happen and a student body that would benefit tremendously. University students, who have been prominent in the news with their protests, should challenge themselves to learn all sides of the issue, flex their critical thinking, and perhaps evolve to more circumspect viewpoints.

The pro-Palestinian protestors, in particular, should take into consideration how their rhetoric impacts the well-being of their Jewish counterparts, given the antisemitic historical context Jews draw upon. Calling for a “Jihad” and chanting “from the river to the sea” prioritizes personal safety above debate, to the detriment of all. You can maintain your position of being pro-Palestinian but do so without the inflammatory language.

How the Hamas-Israeli conflict evolves and the ultimate outcome will be telling. The United States (and Europe, with its sizeable Jewish and Muslim populations) will need to focus their attention, resources, and efforts once again on the Middle East. This area of the world has known conflicts for thousands of years, so the sooner we all start learning more about it — from all sides, the better.

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Michael Benedict published his first book, The Civil Society Playbook: A Commonsense Plan for a Return to Civility, in 2024. His career spans 25+ years in senior-level marketing positions at Fortune 1000 companies, tech startups, and marketing consultancies. His book covers areas of incivility that are not frequently discussed in the media. It offers solutions - actions - that anyone, regardless of age, can implement to improve civility in all aspects of society. He can be reached at michaelbbenedict@gmail.com. The book is available on Amazon, Apple Books, and Audible.