'Israel' killed my friends, dreams: Traumatized Palestinian children

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
29 Mar 2023 18:09
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A mostly silent consequence of Israeli raids on Jenin is the impact on the mental and psychosocial well-being of people who are already living under the brutal occupation.

Palestinian children look out of their homes after an Israeli raid in the Jenin refugee camp on January 26, 2023. (Reuters)

Defense for Children International (DCI) has documented the lives of boys and girls growing up under Israeli occupation in the Jenin Refugee Camp in light of the ongoing brutal raids and daily killings.

The report highlighted that much of the Israeli occupation forces' killings of Palestinian children were concentrated in Jenin. Six of the seventeen Palestinian children killed at the beginning of this year were from the Camp.

Things went from bad to worse for children in Jenin. Tragically, IOF used Palestinian children in Jenin as human shields in front of an Israeli military vehicle while raiding the camp. One child was reportedly forced to stand in front of an Israeli military vehicle for hours while the occupation forces sat inside.

Israeli brutality is seemingly followed by nonchalance. The report further stressed that Palestinian children now suffer from forms of Israeli aggression-related trauma due to the Israeli brutal acts, which include killing, detaining, and raiding among other human rights violations.

'Israel stifles my dreams'

A 17-year-old child affectionately recalled that the occupation stormed the camp as he and his friend Mahmoud Al-Saadi, 17, were heading to school early in the morning on December 21, 2022. Concurrently, the IOF opened intense fire in every direction. The two children fled in different directions. He was later traumatized by the tragic news that his best friend was martyred. The grief-stricken child said, "We were planning together to graduate from school and go to university together, but all of that was shattered."

Meanwhile, the brutal raids on Jenin raised fear among children who can no longer leave their homes. A 16-year-old boy expressed his constant fear, stressing that he used to go out and play with his friends in his neighborhood, as per the report. However, he barely leaves his home now, and he suffers from a sudden surge of overwhelming anxiety and fear.

🔴Happening now: Israeli occupation forces are raiding the #Jenin refugee camp. At least one #Palestinian was murdered, four were injured, and several others were arrested. #Palestine pic.twitter.com/c70xwZYwOy
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) March 7, 2023

For Jenin's children, safety is just a word

Palestinian children have every reason to be traumatized.

In every raid, there are martyrs, shootings, and home and property damage. The Israeli occupation forces shot through the wall of my home. Even in my bedroom, I am not safe. I had to crawl on my stomach to get around the house out of fear of snipers or stray bullets. Death is better than the life I am living. I haven't been able to get enough or regular sleep for more than a year. I occasionally wake up from nightmares, and at other times, I hear gunfire and explosions. Now, I can't tell the difference between reality and nightmares.

- 17 year old child in Jenin

"I saw young men bleed to death"

A 15-year-old child highlighted that the camp is filled with pictures of martyrs, stressing that every martyr has a story and leaves a heart-wrenching memory, as per the report. Then he recalled one of his most emotionally painful experiences. "I saw from the window of my house young men who were brutally shot by the occupation's bullets and left to bleed to death."

Not an isolated incident: "I saw charred bodies of martyrs," another child said as quoted by DCI.

I am terrified even when I am at home. Due to the frequent raids, I used to get afraid at night, but now I am afraid the whole day. The camp used to be quite dense. It was compact enough to fit our dreams and our friends. But now, our dreams have been stifled.

-15 year old boy from Jenin

The child tearfully said that the occupation killed the school's beloved teacher Jawad Bawakna. He was the children's emotional support.

"The school is now preoccupied with thoughts, memories, and images of our lost friends and loved ones and we are trying to escape it," he added.

IOF besieged a home during one of the raids and took the father by force away from his wife and two children, Tuleen and Misk (both under two years old). The mother and her two daughters were compelled to stay in one of the house's rooms, which they used as an operations room, exposing the family to grave danger.

The father of the two girls reported drastic changes in the girl's behavior, most notably Tuleen's. The little girl who was once an active, curious, and expressive child turned into an aloof being who constantly feels danger and fear. She is overly attached to her mother and distracted not to mention having constant nightmares and intense daily bouts of crying.

Such taxing life events left a severe emotional blow to the future of the Palestinian children’s well-being.