Following a Year of Conflict, Israelis and Palestinians Reflect on Shared Trauma
A year after the October 7 attacks, Israelis and Palestinians continue to grapple with collective trauma. Both sides face deepened divisions, while some groups advocate for peace, unity, and recognition of each other's suffering.
A year has passed since Hamas attacked Jewish communities near the Gaza Strip, killing of 1,200 Israelis and abducting 251 hostages, and the bombing of the Gaza Strip as a response, leading to thousands of civilian casualties and continuous internal displacement. The anniversary of October 7 not only marks a year of intense conflict but also an ongoing trauma that has been affecting both Israelis and Palestinians.
Each group’s trauma since October 7 has created a “tunnel vision approach,” which pushed most people in the region and abroad to acknowledge only one side’s losses and suffering, polarizing even more the debate regarding this conflict and dehumanizing the other in the process as well.
Terms such as Islamophobia and antisemitism have been wrongly used in the past months
“Jewish and Arab communities in the diaspora have certainly patronized their side … by presenting a one-sided narrative,” Julia Chaitin, social phycologist and peace activist from Kibbutz Urim, told The Media Line. She noted that the trauma extends beyond the region, and that “terms such as Islamophobia and antisemitism have been wrongly used in the past months.” For example, while some global demonstrations demanding an end to the war are anti-Zionist, they are not necessarily antisemitic. However, she acknowledged that anti-Zionism and Jew-hatred “may also be intertwined in some cases.”
Wagih Sidawi, a Palestinian Israeli social and human rights activist from Arara, also addressed that the demonstrations in question are not an expression of antisemitism but a call for social justice, self-determination, and a stand against war in general. Moreover, diasporic communities, especially the Jewish and Palestinian ones, have been actively living the collective trauma of their people, causing, as a reaction, a wave of activism and advocacy.
“You get emotionally involved and start to advocate for your side as a response to trauma and injustice,” Sidawi said, emphasizing the difficulty of detachment when hearing from loved ones. He also mentioned his connections with Palestinian groups in the diaspora and his understanding of their perspectives.
On October 9, the event “The Day of Pain, The Day of Hope,” which will take place in Jerusalem, has the goal to bring together 22 organizations, primarily pro-peace and left-wing groups, both Jewish and Arab, to cope with collective feelings of fear, shock, loss, rage, uncertainty, and sadness caused by the ongoing war, in order not let these emotions dictate one’s life and negative feelings towards the other. Despite being intergenerational, trauma shouldn’t build bridges between people; instead, it heals with time.
“As a social psychologist and peace activist … I have always been in touch with my personal acquaintances inside the Strip, despite what happened on October 7, which shocked us since it was perceived as a pogrom,” Chaitin said. “Communication between me, a Jewish Israeli, and Palestinians of Gaza became vital to understanding one another, debunking fake news, and acknowledging the importance of each other’s pain.”
She noted that many Israelis lack this personal interaction, which has “worsened the sense of mistrust and fear.”
The event’s goal is to face each other and talk freely about what we have lost, experienced, and have been going through this year
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“The event’s goal is to face each other and talk freely about what we have lost, experienced, and have been going through this year,” she said. She emphasized that feeling “heard and seen despite your ethnicity, religion, gender, political status, and background” is crucial for building peaceful coexistence amid ongoing trauma.
The Jewish communities along the Gaza Strip have been an overall example of reciprocated interactions between Jewish Israelis and Gazans. Most of the Israelis living there have always advocated for peace and recognition of the Palestinian cause.
“I am originally from Netiv Haasara, one of the closest Jewish villages to the Gaza border. On October 7, terrorists killed 20 people, and one of my daughters had them inside her house, so she hid in a closet with two of her children,” Roni Kider, who survived the attacks on October 7, told The Media Line.
“My son was doing surveillance at the village on a night shift when he saw terrorists coming towards. He tried to hide but thought he wouldn’t have made it that day, so he said his goodbyes. Luckily, he survived, but I still have vivid memories of that day, and it was traumatizing.”
Since October 7, Kider has been advocating for peace.
“The Palestinians that I know have been sympathetic towards what happened to us, and I feel the pain to see what they are facing in Gaza right now.”
Hamas didn’t differentiate that day between religious beliefs, and many Muslims were deeply affected by the attack as well.
“We saw barbaric actions perpetrated that day that affected Muslims as well,” Jamal Alkarnawi, a Bedouin citizen from Rahat, told The Media Line. He expressed sympathy for the Jewish victims and his own community, noting that “223 Bedouins were murdered, and six are still held in captivity by Hamas.”
Alkarnawi noted that he lost many friends during Hamas’ attack and has been advocating for educational equality in the Negev, adding, “I didn’t have the time to mourn the lost ones because the war is still ongoing.”
“But we must make our society better by listening to what others are feeling,” he said. “Talking about this, sharing emotions, such as crying, is part of the healing process and the push for a different future in this land. Even if everyone lost so much due to the war, I feel optimistic for the future and hope for reconciliation.”
People’s traumas, both from the Israeli and Palestinian sides, have been broadcasted throughout the months, and with them, visuals of the victims of this war.
“Israel is considered by people to be the strong actor here, and it is difficult to sympathize with it,” Kider said. She acknowledged that the media portrayal over the past months shapes perceptions, adding, “Our pain is less visible through the screen.”
When will the number of Palestinian casualties be enough to stop all of this?
Though it is not shown abroad, she said, “There are people among Israeli society that consider themselves to be pro-Israel and pro-Palestine at the same time because we are pro-human beings.” She questioned, “When will the number of Palestinian casualties be enough to stop all of this?” and emphasized the need for a “new chapter” focused on everyone’s survival.
For Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, October 7 led the way to different feelings towards what happened by acknowledging what was committed by Hamas as terrible and by being deeply sympathetic towards relatives and friends only a few miles away, in the West Bank and Gaza, victims of Israel’s military offensive.
“As a Palestinian Israeli, I felt that we experienced a different kind of trauma,” Sidawi said, expressing shock at Hamas’ actions but also feeling fortunate compared to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. He criticized the Israeli government’s rightward shift, which has marginalized Arabs and dismissed their trauma.
“War is awful. I wish after one year to speak about a ‘day after,’ but we are now facing new fronts in Lebanon and even with Iran. Why does the international community give Israel legitimacy to do all of this? As Palestinians, the wounds of the past of the Nakba reopened by seeing all the destruction and misery in Gaza,” he said.
Emphasizing the need for equal rights and peace, he stated, “We need the war to end on every front and start rethinking how our society is shaped here.”
