Ari Stoner
New Here
70% of children in towns affected by rockets suffer from at least one symptom of PTSD. Men, Women, and Children--everyone--are affected by these attacks.
Think about this. See the traumatizing effect that the rocket attacks from Gaza have had on the people of Sderot and the surrounding communities. There are a multitude of stories I have heard since I have been here. It has changed the way that I think about the rocket attacks significantly
Back in America, or anywhere else in the world, it is easy to demonize Israel for the retalitory air strikes that it carries out in response to the rocket attacks. It is easy to demonize Israel for the operation in Gaza. You see the statistics--few killed in the border cities, and many more in Gaza. But what is Israel to do? The citizens who are affected need help. Natal’s resiliency training goes far. But it is very difficult to train an entire city to just deal with the fact that every day there is a significant chance that air sirens will go off and an office building, a car, a store, or someone’s home will be destroyed. The rocket attacks can not go unpunished, there must be a system of deterrence.
Listen to a few of the pleas of the civilians there and you will that it is very difficult not to empathize with them. It is hard to think that nothing can be done. "Parenthood here focuses on survival, not on empowerment.” “When the Color Red alarm went off while I was in the shower, I would run to the shelter without clothes on. About a month ago, the alarm went off again. I heard planes flying by and I fainted. They had to take me to the hospital." "Life in this town was beautiful before the Qassam fire started," she said. "Since then, there hasn't been one night when we could sleep normally. All aspects of life have been disrupted.”
50% of Children in Sderot experience symptoms of “reliving” rocket attacks
41.6% experience sympoms of heightened arousal, extreme fear and anxiety, a constant state of alertness, nightmares, etc.
An Israeli woman is carried after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza landed in a factory in the southern Israeli town of Sderot February 27,
A woman is evacuated on a stretcher after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza landed in a factory in the southern Israeli town of Sderot February 27, 2008.
Workers survey the damage after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza landed in a factory in the southern Israeli town of Sderot February 27, 2008. A Palestinian rocket attack from the Gaza Strip killed one person in Israel on Wednesday, the Zaka emergency service said.
For most rocket attacks, the Israeli air force sends a retaliatory strike on the site from which the rocket was fired. They do everything they can to avoid civilian casualties, but the terrorists fire indiscriminately on civilians from civilian areas. They use human shields. In Gaza, there is no punishment for terrorism on the Israeli population. In fact, it is praised by the government in power, Hamas. Many of the rockets actually emanate from the government forces of Hamas, the Al-Quassam brigades.
Should they really be forced to move out of their homes? Should Sderot be turned into an exclusion zone? Israel cannot just stand back and allow these attacks to happen, even though civilians aren’t typically killed. The reason they aren’t killed is because there have been bomb shelters put up all over the city. There are sirens. They are encouraged to go inside. Even still, they suffer from trauma of the constant fear.
These children will have an extremely different life than those who grow up elsewhere. I doubt that they will ever be able to completely detach from the terror that they were forced to live in during their childhood. Perhaps, they will become extremely resilient--at least those who were resilient during the attacks. Perhaps instead, they will continue to suffer from the effects of PTSD for the majority of their adult life--being unable to focus on the intricacies of everyday life, severely attention deficit, sleep deprived, and depressed. In America, it is hard to understand what it is like here. Many people probably just dismiss it altogether, saying something to the likes of “the middle east is just screwed up. What can you do.” This is a dangerous attitude. It is the same attitude that many Israelis share--something that will deter the winds of peace for a long time. People need to try and understand this illness, PTSD. Soldiers in America deal with it in a place where very few understand their situation. Many are driven to the edge, some even commit suicide.
PTSD is something I still know very little about. But it is something very intense, and those who have it feel lost. But they are not alone. As a society, we must learn to confront it, and show that these people are not alone.
I am not sure what that means now. I am one of these children who grew up in the U.S. completely detached from the life here. I have met kids my age that have lived through terror, it has greatly affected their lives. Many of them were aggressive.
I remember one night from when I was living in Jerusalem. I was out with one of my friends in town. Jerusalem, being a very intense place, has consistently dealt with the conflict for over a thousand years. Since Israel has become a country, and Jerusalem its undivided capital, there have been terror attacks. They have lived through the intifada, when stone throwing, bus bombings, and murders were an every day phenomenon. That night that I was out, I heard an Israeli teenager running down Jaffa street screaming something with people around him joining in chorus. They repeated an extremely racist motto, which I will not translate directly but I will say that that it undermines the issue, a continual cycle of hatred and violence. The stress caused here by the conflict creates anger on both sides. It causes people to forget dreams of peace. I have met quite a few people that have become so cynical over these years to say that peace is impossible. I can personally say I have no solution. Nothing can change until both sides relax..
PTSD is a disease. It is a national disease here, and the symptoms can sometimes be hate and mistrust. I’m not sure what to do. When I came here, I felt like I had a solution. After living here for nearly 6 months. I don’t have a clue what there is to do. But the sickness needs to be treated, otherwise, peace is impossible.
NATAL provides a necessary service. Today, I talked to a friend of mine, he told me two of his brothers have trouble sleeping at night because of memories of battles. It is too common, and it breaks my heart to learn more about the disease here. NATAL does everything I think could be possible, and although my contributions may be minimal, I am very happy to help. NATAL is treating the disease. Now, its important that people learn what it is, and how they can help.
Think about this. See the traumatizing effect that the rocket attacks from Gaza have had on the people of Sderot and the surrounding communities. There are a multitude of stories I have heard since I have been here. It has changed the way that I think about the rocket attacks significantly
Back in America, or anywhere else in the world, it is easy to demonize Israel for the retalitory air strikes that it carries out in response to the rocket attacks. It is easy to demonize Israel for the operation in Gaza. You see the statistics--few killed in the border cities, and many more in Gaza. But what is Israel to do? The citizens who are affected need help. Natal’s resiliency training goes far. But it is very difficult to train an entire city to just deal with the fact that every day there is a significant chance that air sirens will go off and an office building, a car, a store, or someone’s home will be destroyed. The rocket attacks can not go unpunished, there must be a system of deterrence.
Listen to a few of the pleas of the civilians there and you will that it is very difficult not to empathize with them. It is hard to think that nothing can be done. "Parenthood here focuses on survival, not on empowerment.” “When the Color Red alarm went off while I was in the shower, I would run to the shelter without clothes on. About a month ago, the alarm went off again. I heard planes flying by and I fainted. They had to take me to the hospital." "Life in this town was beautiful before the Qassam fire started," she said. "Since then, there hasn't been one night when we could sleep normally. All aspects of life have been disrupted.”
50% of Children in Sderot experience symptoms of “reliving” rocket attacks
41.6% experience sympoms of heightened arousal, extreme fear and anxiety, a constant state of alertness, nightmares, etc.
An Israeli woman is carried after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza landed in a factory in the southern Israeli town of Sderot February 27,
A woman is evacuated on a stretcher after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza landed in a factory in the southern Israeli town of Sderot February 27, 2008.
Workers survey the damage after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza landed in a factory in the southern Israeli town of Sderot February 27, 2008. A Palestinian rocket attack from the Gaza Strip killed one person in Israel on Wednesday, the Zaka emergency service said.
For most rocket attacks, the Israeli air force sends a retaliatory strike on the site from which the rocket was fired. They do everything they can to avoid civilian casualties, but the terrorists fire indiscriminately on civilians from civilian areas. They use human shields. In Gaza, there is no punishment for terrorism on the Israeli population. In fact, it is praised by the government in power, Hamas. Many of the rockets actually emanate from the government forces of Hamas, the Al-Quassam brigades.
Should they really be forced to move out of their homes? Should Sderot be turned into an exclusion zone? Israel cannot just stand back and allow these attacks to happen, even though civilians aren’t typically killed. The reason they aren’t killed is because there have been bomb shelters put up all over the city. There are sirens. They are encouraged to go inside. Even still, they suffer from trauma of the constant fear.
These children will have an extremely different life than those who grow up elsewhere. I doubt that they will ever be able to completely detach from the terror that they were forced to live in during their childhood. Perhaps, they will become extremely resilient--at least those who were resilient during the attacks. Perhaps instead, they will continue to suffer from the effects of PTSD for the majority of their adult life--being unable to focus on the intricacies of everyday life, severely attention deficit, sleep deprived, and depressed. In America, it is hard to understand what it is like here. Many people probably just dismiss it altogether, saying something to the likes of “the middle east is just screwed up. What can you do.” This is a dangerous attitude. It is the same attitude that many Israelis share--something that will deter the winds of peace for a long time. People need to try and understand this illness, PTSD. Soldiers in America deal with it in a place where very few understand their situation. Many are driven to the edge, some even commit suicide.
PTSD is something I still know very little about. But it is something very intense, and those who have it feel lost. But they are not alone. As a society, we must learn to confront it, and show that these people are not alone.
I am not sure what that means now. I am one of these children who grew up in the U.S. completely detached from the life here. I have met kids my age that have lived through terror, it has greatly affected their lives. Many of them were aggressive.
I remember one night from when I was living in Jerusalem. I was out with one of my friends in town. Jerusalem, being a very intense place, has consistently dealt with the conflict for over a thousand years. Since Israel has become a country, and Jerusalem its undivided capital, there have been terror attacks. They have lived through the intifada, when stone throwing, bus bombings, and murders were an every day phenomenon. That night that I was out, I heard an Israeli teenager running down Jaffa street screaming something with people around him joining in chorus. They repeated an extremely racist motto, which I will not translate directly but I will say that that it undermines the issue, a continual cycle of hatred and violence. The stress caused here by the conflict creates anger on both sides. It causes people to forget dreams of peace. I have met quite a few people that have become so cynical over these years to say that peace is impossible. I can personally say I have no solution. Nothing can change until both sides relax..
PTSD is a disease. It is a national disease here, and the symptoms can sometimes be hate and mistrust. I’m not sure what to do. When I came here, I felt like I had a solution. After living here for nearly 6 months. I don’t have a clue what there is to do. But the sickness needs to be treated, otherwise, peace is impossible.
NATAL provides a necessary service. Today, I talked to a friend of mine, he told me two of his brothers have trouble sleeping at night because of memories of battles. It is too common, and it breaks my heart to learn more about the disease here. NATAL does everything I think could be possible, and although my contributions may be minimal, I am very happy to help. NATAL is treating the disease. Now, its important that people learn what it is, and how they can help.
