Grief and trauma resurface as six executed Israeli hostages are found in Gaza

(New York, NY) A week ago, the world woke up to news that confirmed rumors circulating on social media: the bodies of six Israeli hostages – including the well-known American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin – had been recovered from a terror tunnel in the Gaza Strip.

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News of the executions sent a shock wave through the civilized world, recalling the horror, fear and grief of the events of nearly a year ago, war and trauma experts said.

“The murder of the hostages was a reminder of the losses of October 7 and the feeling of being targeted and destroyed,” said Dr. Samantha Nutt, founder and president of War Child USA and War Child Canada. The media line“The children were at a music festival where love, innocence and a bohemian feeling came together,” she said, adding that she has a son the same age as Goldberg-Polin.

Nutt recalled the fate of her good friend Margaret Hassan, a CARE humanitarian worker in Iraq who was kidnapped and executed in Baghdad 20 years ago in November. She was expecting her son at the time, and the shock and grief she experienced made it impossible for her to get up or stop crying for days. Goldberg-Polin's execution brought back memories of her friend's murder, Nutt said.

In the video her captors filmed, Hassan had demanded the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq and “had to beg for her life.” “I had the same feeling watching Hersh when Hamas released that video of him demanding an end to the war and being abused under duress,” she said. “You could see his exhaustion and surrender. The torture felt personal and familiar.”

Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov and Ori Danino. (Source: Hostages and Missing Families Forum/Screenshot via X)

Personal and family aspects characterize the trauma caused by the murder of the hostages, said trauma specialist Sheri Perlman. “The whole country is suffering from PTSD,” she said The media line.

Tali Center for Health and Wellness

Since October 7, Perlman has spent a lot of time in Israel exploring the possibility of opening the Tali Center for Health and Wellness, an integrative trauma healing center that would incorporate a variety of treatment modalities, including Reiki, Shiatsu, EMDR (eye movement desensitization and processing), craniosacral therapy, massage, travel and psychotherapy.

Perlman spoke about the impact of the past year on the population. “People's sympathetic nervous system is activated. They are in high-stress mode,” she said. “The stress is everywhere. Children don't want to talk to their parents; everyone is holding on together, but they are on the verge of breaking down. Will the country survive if people are in survival mode?”

No matter where they are, people connected to Israel can feel as if they are falling apart at this moment, said Rabbi Naomi Kalish, the Harold and Carole Wolfe Director of the Center for Pastoral Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS). Asked specifically about the response to the killing of the six Israeli hostages, she said: The media line“Psychologically, each person has his or her own unique experience; grief awakens old sorrows.”

Of course, the execution of the hostages is a reminder of the events of Oct. 7. Still, Kalish said that for many who attended JTS in the mid-1990s, like her, the hostage executions brought back memories of the 1996 killing of students Matthew Eisenfeld and Sara Duker in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem. “Those of us who were at the school then are reliving the grief and horror,” she said.

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Jewish activist Lizzy Savetsky addressed the outrage that the catastrophic killings are being denied or ignored amid intensified anti-Israel protests. In her video post last week, she walked through Manhattan with her family as masked pro-Palestinian protesters chanted “Long live the Intifada” and other slogans. Savetsky wrote, “I'm shaking. We were walking home from lunch with our family in our utterly distressed state and were blocked from crossing the street by these soulless terror supporters calling for MORE violence.”

JTS' Kalish spoke about the effect that denying an atrocity can have on a person or group connected to the victim. The lack of empathy for the hostages' murder “fits into the larger context of the lack of recognition of grief. In general, the politicization and dramatic polarization of discourse has left very little or no room for nuance,” she said.

The current discourse around Israel/Gaza often denies that there is personal experience on the Israeli side and questions who has the right to mourn. This is insidious, she added. “Denial contributes to dehumanization. I think the whole thing is about dehumanization.”

For Dr. Joe Chuman, activist and former human rights professor at Columbia University and the United Nations University for Peace, the shock of the hostages’ murder was even greater than the shock of them being kept alive by Hamas, he said The media lineeven if only as a bargaining chip or for cynical reasons.

Chuman spoke about the complexity of the war and the “particular horror” of the fact that so many of the Israelis murdered in Gaza's kibbutzim on October 7 were left-wing and committed to peace and coexistence with their Palestinian neighbors in Gaza.

He also spoke about the unique and personal trauma of being a progressive Zionist American Jew who is “very disturbed by anti-Zionist elements in the demonstrations on the universities” as well as the prospect of Donald Trump winning re-election, creating a scenario that he said would endanger both Israel and America. Chuman spoke about the emotional stress of living in these two realities. “My head is spinning,” he said.

Perhaps no one can better describe the unique horror, grief and trauma of the murder of the six Israeli hostages than Judea Pearl, the father of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

“When I saw the anti-Israel rhetoric being expressed in response to this atrocity, I wrote a very short post saying, 'Come on, folks, can you let us mourn our dead in solemnity and reflection… instead of remembering your disgusting existence on this planet?'” he said. The media line.

Pearl described Rachel Goldberg-Polin's eulogy as “very powerful” and was particularly impressed by her statement: “Justice is on our side. We will continue to fight for justice, inspired by your example.”

“That's exactly how I felt when tragedy struck my son, Danny. We pulled ourselves together to fight the hatred that took his life,” he said.

Dedicating oneself to the fight for justice is an effective response to overwhelming trauma. Pearl confessed that while he had been asked in recent months to deliver a message to the hostages' families, he had declined because he felt “like a failure. I failed to save Danny. I felt it wasn't right to remind them of what happened to Danny,” he said, referring to his 2002 killing.

Now he says: “Instead of words of consolation, I can say that time heals all wounds, especially when it is accompanied by the determination to fight and change the world.”

War Child's Nutt echoes Pearl's proactive approach to dealing with trauma. “One of the greatest things in my life that has enabled me to endure horrific things – including in Darfur – is that I have a constructive outlet… the ability to achieve good in the face of extraordinary adversity. That is extremely therapeutic and cathartic,” she said.

“I would like to encourage everyone to look for ways to make a positive impact on people's lives. This war is far from over,” she concluded.

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