In the streets of Israel, the faces of those who were and remain captives in Gaza dominate the shop windows. Streetlights collect stickers with words asking for their release, wondering about his whereabouts. And in every corner where the eye can see, there is a flag Israeli. The balconies proudly display that blue Star of David surrounded by two lines of the same color on a white background. Beyond these reminders, it would hardly be possible to affirm that these same streets are those of a country at war. The terraces are packed, businesses are recovering, and street musicians are singing again in the squares. Yes indeed. Young and old cross their chests their rifles, as the ultimate accessory for leaving the house. Wallet, cell phone, keys and the weapon that is not forgotten. Although the faces that go out into the street indicate normality and pinches of happiness, the Israeli people are not well.
“What we are experiencing is a cultural trauma“explains the teacher Gad Yair of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “In our daily lives, there are constant references to Holocaustbut what has happened is that this popular reference to the Jewish genocide has suddenly come back as a realitynot as a joke or a comment that we used to make,” explains this expert in cultural sociology, in reference to that October 7th that touched each of the nine million inhabitants of the Jewish State when thousands of Hamas militiamen devastated 1,200 lives in communities bordering the Gaza Strip. “Unexpectedly, this return has taken place in Israel, the country that promised that such a Holocaust would never happen again,” he explains to EL PERIÓDICO.
Precisely that ‘never more’ It is one of the main pillars of Israeli national identity. Every January 27, the people of Israel pause to remember that the organized massacres of six million Jews by the Nazi regime in Germany should never happen again. Now, that claim is repeated with more meaning than before. Another of the great identity supports of this country is the Army. Both men and women perform the compulsory military service which serves, in turn, as a rite of passage and gateway to adult life in Israel. But that tragic October 7, the Army disappeared. “Many feel that The Government has violated the contract that it maintains with each of the citizens, because the people who lived on the border had to defend themselves and protect the security of Israel; The Government should protect them and did not do so,” adds Yair.
One in three Israelis
Almost two months after its own 9/11, Israeli society begins to speak from another scenario. A new study, conducted by Achva Academic College, Shalvata Mental Health Center and Columbia University, shows that one in three Israelis presented symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the first month. Among those who were directly affected by the attack, either by being present at the time or by losing someone close to them, the prevalence of PTSD was More than 50%. “The memory of the Holocaust and the feeling that it is not there is no one there to help you They represent a complete return to Nazi Germany cycle, it’s dramatic,” says Yair. “This won’t happen soon; I believe that in the Israeli consciousness, for at least a generation, there will be a moment of trauma to which we will continue to refer during our lives, like people in the United States with the Kennedy assassination or September 9,” he adds.
“October 7 will become a moment inherent to our Israeli identity“, he explains to EL PERIÓDICO, from Hong Kong, where he is carrying out a research stay. In the calm created by the thousands of kilometers that separate him from his country, he has been able to analyze, together with several colleagues, what the response of his people has been. . “There is no no difference between the Israelis who are in Israel and those of us who are outside,” he clarifies. “The most repeated feeling among all is the sadness and the duelit is a shared trauma that will remain in the long term,” says Professor Yair. “Immediately after the massacre, war has not allowed the mourning process to take place, since everyone ran to take refuge from the rockets launched from Gaza and looked for new places to protect themselves,” he acknowledges. “There has been no time to process this whole experience that will be transcendental for an entire generation and even more,” he concludes.
Thousands of requests
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For now, the only response has been weapons. Applications for permits to carry them have skyrocketed, as announced by the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir. In these two months, more than 260,000, equaling the total number requested in the last 20 years. The relaxation of the eligibility criteria has meant that each day, on average, 1,700 permits, compared to 94 daily in November 2022 and 42 the previous year. “We live in terror and we hope that it happens on a daily basis,” explains Yair, celebrating the “madness of Israeli life.” “It is no coincidence that we protect our borders or that we have a strong Army, because, when we do not protect ourselves ourselves, nobody is going to do it for us,” he denounces Osrat Abitbol Melnikordedicated to activism to bring back the 136 hostages still in Gaza.
To a large extent, the fight for the return of captives It is what keeps the country together. “People don’t know what to think, there is a situation of indecision because the presence of the hostages prevents us from directly attacking the Gazanssince perhaps they could hurt our people,” Yair notes. In Israel, the issue of hostages reaches theological levels. The Talmuda set of commentaries on the Jewish Torah, considers the ransom of captives as a community responsibility, as many ancient scholars considered it a fate worse than death. If the Government of Israel refuses, it will be the Jewish town the one who fights against their leaders, if necessary, to prevent their own from continuing to live in captivity, the most tragic of fatalities. In the streets, they wait for you with sun, protection and their happy portraits.