The Israeli measures in the Occupied Palestinian Territories led to a serious deterioration in the living conditions and humanitarian situation of the Palestinian people, who have long been suffering from social and economic blockade. Israel has denied the civilians their right to free movement and impeded the free passage of foodstuffs and commodities by erecting checkpoints all across the West Bank and sealing off crossings of the Gaza Strip from time to time.

Mental Health

World Federation for Mental Health commemorates the World Mental Health Day on the 10th October each year. This commemoration comes in recognition of the significance and influence of mental health in the life of human beings and their physical and public health, thus enabling humans to naturally perform their duties in the society. World Mental Health Day is considered a day of enlightenment and support to individuals, families, and societies about the different issues of mental health.

This Occasion comes this year in the shade of a new Palestinian reality represented by the arrival of Hamas movement to power in the Palestinian territories after achieving a landslide victory in democratic parliamentary elections held on 25th January, 2006. Following these elections and the formation of a new Palestinian Hamas-led government, Israel has imposed a siege on the Palestinian territories, declared its boycott of the new Palestinian government, and refused to transfer customs revenues to the Palestinians. After taking these measures, several donor countries including major donors: the European Union, the USA, and Japan, cut off their relief and development assistance offered to the Palestinian people.

Summer Rains

After Hamas took over the Palestinian Authority, Israel launched a large-scale military offensive that was code-named "Operation Summer Rains" following a Palestinian attack in which an Israeli soldier was detained and held in the Gaza Strip. The operation resulted in the killing of more than 200 Palestinians, half of them civilians and one quarter of them are children. In addition, this operation included intentional devastation of civilian installations, infrastructure, and the major power plant that provides 40% of electricity in the Gaza Strip. Such acts led to the aggravation of Palestinian suffering, a shortage of drinking water, difficulty in movement within the Gaza Strip due to the destruction of road infrastructure including the few major bridges, whose reconstruction costs millions of dollars. This harmed the Palestinian economy and caused a huge deficit in the budget.

Unconventional Weapons

There are strong indicators that Israel used unconventional weapons in its Operation Summer Rains as the bodies of all the Palestinians, who were killed or injured, were charred and their limbs were deformed and mutilated. In addition, the cause of death in some cases was not recognized.

Israel has resorted to the policy of intensive air strikes and also resumed sonic booms, which were used previously in the Gaza Strip, causing panic, anxiety, and fear among the Palestinian children, in addition to bedwetting, aggressive behaviour, sleep disorders, nightmares, lack of concentration, cognitive disturbances, and frustration, as well as despair that makes the Palestinian citizens lose hope in everything and thus lose control of their own lives.

This Occasion coincides with the first anniversary of Israeli Disengagement Plan, when all the Israeli settlements were dismantled and removed from the Gaza Strip. It was expected that the Gaza Strip will turn into a free safe region, but reality dashed all these hopes. The destiny of the Palestinian waters and airspace remained under full Israeli control, including Rafah crossing, which is the only gateway to the outside world. Consequently, the Gaza Strip has turned into a bigger prison, in which about 1.5 million Palestinians were held for an unlimited time. Likewise, Israel detains thousands of Palestinian prisoners in its prisons and rejects to release them, which is a clear contravention of Geneva Conventions. This also led to more frustration and despair that crushed the Palestinian dream that Gaza will turn into a free, safe place.

The Palestinian Life

The difficult reality in which the Palestinian people live foreshadows more deterioration in all facets of life. This deterioration is embodied in the increasing violence in all its forms, familially, tribally, and politically, along with unprecedented, alarming rates of unemployment and poverty (around 70% of the Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip live under the poverty line) and this situation becomes more complicated as the Palestinian Authority is unable to pay the salaries of its employees in the civil and security apparatuses.

In this regard, Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) warns of the serious repercussions if the difficult Palestinian living conditions continue, as they will certainly lead to more deterioration in the mental health of the Palestinian people and will affect the social fabric of the Palestinian society.

In addition, GCMHP calls upon the international community and human rights organisations to immediately intervene to promote the principles of democracy and human rights in Palestinian and the entire world, as well as to achieve equity for all peoples of the world in order to avoid more deterioration in the mental health of the disadvantaged and marginalised groups, which suffer from injustices. This shall affect the reactions and behaviours of these groups including violent behaviours, which result in more violence and counter-violence.

GCMHP also appeals to the local community to work on improving the living conditions and mental health of victims in order to reintegrate them in the community. Workers in the field of mental health should coordinate their efforts by joining local and international institutions and professional organisations that seek to spread peace and security by promoting democracy and calling for the liberation of occupied peoples (as they are a prerequisite for achieving peace and mental safety for human beings to increase their abilities to build and develop their societies.

Finally, GCMHP extends its greetings to all colleagues who work in the field of mental health, both in Palestine and worldwide, for all their efforts and roles in improving and developing the mental health safety for human beings everywhere. And on this Occasion, GCMHP calls on them to do their utmost efforts to support the rights of the Palestinian people in order to enjoy human dignity, and to end all forms of violence that target the Palestinian people, the first of which is ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian land, as well as to grant the Palestinians their right to self-determination, as it is the essence of human dignity. This shall contribute to the enhancement of the mental health of the Palestinian people and this shall bear fruitful results with regard to peace and development in the region and the entire world.

Gaza Community Mental Health Program