Contemplating Trauma

I read an article in Ha'aretz today, the weekend magazine ran an article called My God, What did we do? by Dalia Karpel about a new documentary that reveals the trauma of female IDF soldiers of the (first) Intifada. Just a warning, the article can be difficult to read for some, so enter with caution.

In the article, the six women who appear in the documentary speak a little about they had to do there. They are all in their early to mid-thirties, seeing as they were in their late teens to early twenties at the time. In the article the phrase "shell-shock" is used over and over again, as these women talk about the how they felt during and after their military service in the Territories.

The term "shell-shock" is a benign and archaic way to say Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is somewhat endemic to this part of the world. I very much empathized with the women in the article in this regard, having also experienced the symptoms and what the knowledge of what they had to do in the name of "security".( Cut for f-list convenience and for choosing to continue reading about this disturbing subject )