Author(s): Tamseel Aqdas*
The purpose of this research paper was to investigate the justification of Jewish terrorism against the Palestinians, through the lens of chosen trauma. Through qualitative research, it was deduced that chosen trauma is the result of victimization and large-group identity. Hence, the psychological domain of collective victimhood and Sigmund Freud’s Group Psychology were employed to elaborate on this concept. It was deduced that the process and acceptance of victimization are dynamic and are a result of stages since it calls for the collective recognition of trauma by large groups. Large group identity becomes stronger upon attacks or threats from external groups, and attacks generate collective victimhood. The resulting concept is that; the perceived harm is stored in the collective memory of large groups, and they aspire to seek revenge. It was also presented that, shared tragedy is transmitted through generations by virtue of “depositing”. The psychological domain of transgenerational transmission of trauma argues that through depositing, the parties become free of the traumatic images and deal with their mental conflicts. The result is chosen trauma, whereby a collective sense of entitlement for the purpose of recovering from ancestral collective trauma is reflected. Along these lines, the Jewish Holocaust survivors passed down the trauma of concertation camps, torture, and sexual violence across generations. Present-day Jews aspire to avenge the Holocaust by maintaining domination over Jerusalem and current Israeli land. As a result, the Palestinian community which challenges the aspiration of Jews is a victim of state-sponsored terrorism. In retaliation, Palestinians are victims of expulsions, killings, military occupation, forced detention, war crimes, and human rights violations. Despite being called out by various international organizations, Israel is able to justify its actions under the realm of chosen trauma. Hence, the notion of chosen trauma is employed to justify Jewish atrocities against the Palestinians.
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