The Psychology of Palestinian Resilience: A Psychiatrist’s View from the Frontline
The narrative of Palestine is often told through the lens of politics, conflict, and land. But beneath the headlines lies a profound psychological story. This is a story about personal trauma, a powerful sense of identity, and an incredible spirit of resilience. To truly understand this reality, we need to listen to the people who are living it every day.
We are joined by Dr. Samah Jabr, a distinguished Palestinian psychiatrist, psychotherapist, writer, and former Head of the Mental Health Unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Drawing on decades of lived and professional experience, she unpacks the psychological impact of the occupation, the community’s organic response to trauma, and her vision for a decolonial approach to mental health. Her recently published book, “Radiance in Pain and Resilience: The global reverberation of Palestinian historical trauma”, explores these themes in depth.
The Psychological Scars of Systemic Violence
Dr. Jabr begins by clarifying that the political violence in Palestine isn’t random; it is systemic, structural, and deliberate. Its primary psychological goal is to impose a pervasive sense of helplessness and resentment on the population.
“Understanding this helps us to invent a reaction or a response that tries to maintain the agency and the dignity of the Palestinian people,” she explains.
This protracted colonial violence has consequences that extend beyond individual trauma. While individuals suffer, the damage to the collective is equally severe:
- Erosion of Social Fabric: Chronic trauma breeds mistrust and can internalised feelings of inferiority within a community.
- Intergenerational Impact: The psychological wounds are passed from one generation to the next, creating a cycle of historical trauma.
- The Context is Sick, Not the People: Dr. Jabr emphasises that a critical mistake is focusing solely on individual pathology while ignoring the oppressive environment. “The context is sick, not the people,” she asserts. “We need to put all our efforts into changing the pathological context.”
Healing Under Fire: A New Approach to Therapy
Conventional mental health interventions assume a baseline of safety—a luxury that doesn’t exist in Palestine. Even outside active bombardment zones, the lack of safety is a constant challenge for therapists and patients.
“When I make the appointment for the coming visit, they tell me, ‘If I don’t go back to prison, I will come,’” Dr. Jabr shares, illustrating the precariousness of daily life. This reality forces a radical rethinking of therapeutic practice, prioritising the patient’s sense of security, even if it means bending traditional rules like using real names.
Organic Community Support in Gaza
When the formal mental health system in Gaza was demolished, Dr. Jabr observed a powerful, organic response emerge from the community itself. This demonstrates that healing is not solely the domain of experts.
- Teachers and youth activists organised activities for children who had lost their education.
- Women created listening circles for mothers grieving the loss of family members.
- Communities rallied to show solidarity and support those who had suffered the most.
“The assumption that we mental health experts should lead the work of healing is the wrong assumption,” she notes. True healing is often a grassroots, community-driven effort.
A Note on the 1944 Minnesota Starvation Experiment
Dr. Jabr references this landmark study to explain the psychological intent behind starvation. The experiment showed that semi-starvation quickly led to severe psychological effects, including obsession with food, loss of critical thinking, and social withdrawal, making subjects easier to control. She argues that the deliberate starvation in Gaza is a calculated strategy to break the will and collective resilience of the Palestinian people.
How Colonialism Rewrites More Than Just Borders
“Colonialism is interested in the land and its resources, and damages everything that gives life to the colonised,” Dr. Jabr states. This damage extends deep into the core of identity.
For Palestinians, this rewriting of identity occurs in multiple ways:
- Forced Displacement: Being displaced sometimes dozens of times erases a person’s home, neighbourhood, job, and community connections. This severs their sense of purpose and belonging.
- Cultural Erasure: In Jerusalem, Dr. Jabr describes a “slow, continuous process of changing the city.” Historic Palestinian buildings are draped in Israeli flags, and the Arabic and Islamic heritage is systematically overwritten, alienating people in their own homeland.
- Undefined Nationality: Jerusalemites like herself are issued identity papers that label them “temporary residents” with an “undefined” nationality, a concrete attack on their very being.
“We feel that Jerusalem is shrinking underneath our feet. We are not on solid ground.” – Dr. Samah Jabr.
From Vicarious Trauma to Vicarious Resilience
While the world often discusses the concept of “vicarious trauma”, experiencing trauma symptoms from witnessing the suffering of others – Dr. Jabr introduces a powerful counter-concept: vicarious resilience.
“When you see someone who can bounce back and respond to trauma in a healthy way, you might be inspired by this person,” she says. “This person might be a reason to maintain your morality and your well-being.”
This vicarious resilience is fueled by international solidarity. Seeing global protests and hearing voices of support mitigates the feeling of isolation that the occupation aims to create. It validates Palestinian humanity and reinforces their connection to the world.
A Call for Activists: Move from Mobilization to Organization
While global mobilisation, like the massive protests seen worldwide, is spiritually uplifting for Palestinians, Dr. Jabr offers critical advice for supporters to increase their effectiveness.
“I think we need to move from mobilisation to organisation,” she urges. “Mobilisation can be impressive, but it is usually reactive… and people disengage.”
She recommends that solidarity movements focus on building sustainable structures at local, national, and international levels. The organisation ensures that the energy from reactive events is channelled into long-term, strategic action capable of influencing policy and creating lasting change.
The Honour of Being on the Journey
In the face of such overwhelming injustice, how does one avoid despair? Dr. Jabr grounds herself in what she calls “critical hope” a hope not based on naive optimism, but on the profound value of the struggle itself.
“We do not judge our efforts by the destination… It is the journey by itself, the pathway that we choose for ourselves,” she reflects. “Even if I don’t see an end to the Palestinian occupation during my lifetime, I’m satisfied enough by the fact that I am on that pathway.”
This perspective, rooted in spirituality and a deep sense of human responsibility, has sustained the Palestinian people for over a century. It is a belief that the struggle for justice is an honour, and that even if one generation doesn’t reach the destination, they have the sacred duty to carry the torch for the next.
A Universal Lesson in Resilience
Dr. Samah Jabr’s insights offer more than just a window into the Palestinian psyche; they provide a universal framework for understanding trauma, resilience, and justice. Her decolonial approach challenges us to look beyond individual symptoms and confront the oppressive systems that create suffering. By highlighting the power of community, vicarious resilience, and the honour of the journey, she provides a powerful message of hope, not of a guaranteed outcome, but of the enduring strength of the human spirit.
To learn more, explore Dr. Jabr’s book, “Radiance in Pain and Resilience: The global reverberation of Palestinian historical trauma.”