Dr. Samah Jabr:Letter to Mental Health Professionals in Gaza

While the exercise of military control over an occupied country may be expected to inflict inevitable pain and trauma on the citizens of that country, the history of Israeli policy has far exceeded any “pragmatic” needs of an occupier to dominate and subdue a local population.

Gaza is less than 100 kilometres from Jerusalem. It is deliberately placed out of reach, separated by three visible borders. The Israeli border is the main obstacle, but there are two others, each affirming the authority of one of the two conflicting Palestinian factions: Ramallah’s Palestinian Authority and Gaza’s own

Elderly people in Palestine remember, with a sense of irony, the charitable parcels of clothing they received when they became refugees in 1948, as well-intentioned Westerners sent neckties, short trousers and berets to dress a population that had previously worn traditional Palestinian outfits.