After two years of genocide in Gaza, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) declared on Monday that what Israel is committing is, in fact, a “genocide”. Such news seems a grotesque mockery of lost Gazan lives, given the amount of time it took the academic international community to acknowledge the dehumanization of millions of Gazans. In the backdrop of this news, the raging silence across much of the world, due to burnout and emotional numbness towards the continuous exposure to the dystopian genocide, is critical to address. The question of hope lingers as the world unfolds its ugly countenance, which to date has claimed more than 63,700 human lives.
It’s been almost two years of genocide in Gaza and the The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), a 500-member body of academics, decides to pass a resolution only on Monday, stating that Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza fulfill the definition of genocide set out in the 1948 United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. While the genocide has heartbreakingly become a part of our daily routine, the international community still seems to need academic validation before acknowledging that millions are being slaughtered, yet even then, no action follows. Scrolling through Instagram, you laugh at a meme one second, and in the next, you witness a Gazan fighting for his life, trying to feed his family, or you see countless lifeless bodies of civilians piled in the rubble of what used to be homes. In these seconds of absorbing content, one is thrown into a pit of conflict- an emotional whiplash, not knowing how to react. However, what is absolutely frightening is when you don’t feel anything at all.
Have we normalised the horrors of death and destruction? According to research on genocide and human rights, the more people die, the less we seem to care, because the whole population has been reduced to numbers, who are incapable of stirring any speck of emotion in us. Psychologists use the term emotional numbness to describe the inability to react to chronic stressful situations. Seeing absurd news headlines and pro-Israeli spokespersons, justifying their heinous acts of crimes against humanity, one is bound to feel frustration and psychological agony. The dehumanization of an entire population and the prevalence of stark racism, the incapacity of individuals, who care, to not be able to do anything despite the evident injustice, has resulted in a silence that eats away at us from within, forcing people to carry on with life as if none of it is happening.
After 1 year and 10 months of the ongoing genocide, does hope remain? There is no straightforward answer to such a question. The inaction and apathy of international bystanders are obviously the cause of extreme exasperation and resentment. In her award-winning book, “A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide,” Samantha Power documented the inadequacy of the U.S. Government, the most powerful backbone of Israel, and its response to numerous genocides dating back to 1915. She concluded: “No U.S. president has ever made genocide a priority, and no U.S. president has ever suffered politically for his indifference to its occurrence. It is thus no coincidence that genocide rages on.” Such necropolitics creates the unfortunate situation of helplessness and a cycle of burnout, out of which escape becomes difficult, if not impossible.
Then, does one give up altogether? The answer to this question is negative. While numbness and burnout are real, it is extremely important not to lose hope and slap the emotion of giving up in the face. In instances of emotional numbness, psychologists emphasize “defrosting”, which refers to the ability to make yourself feel. While everything keeps shattering and you start to feel numb, remind yourself of the images that you couldn’t bear to look at without crying, and the voices that haunt you and make you feel an overwhelming ache in your heart. Regain your sensitivity by maintaining communication with yourself and others, and never bend towards the raging silence. The goal is not to exacerbate conflicts, but to understand precisely what is happening around you. It is important to remember that no state is permanent; one day it will pass, and when it does, you will want to be standing on the right side of history.
Sharmeen Shah is a student pursuing Psychology from Jamia Millia Islamia.
Edited by: Omama Abu Talha
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of The Jamia Review or its members.
