Gaza's Nightmare: The Unseen Health Consequences for Civilians Amid Conflict
Since 1948, Palestine has endured relentless pressure and strife inflicted upon them by the State of Israel. The aggression from this new occupier was almost immediate, and resulted in half the Arab Palestinian population fleeing or expelled from the region, as well as being victimised by ongoing human rights violations.
The UN Security Council identified this inhumanity early in the conflict, drafting a resolution in 1967 that would provide the principles for lasting peace - the main objective would be that Israel leave the territories of the Gaza Strip and West Bank which they were illegally occupying, and provide just settlement for displaced Arabs and others within the region. Israel was also compelled to stop all forms of aggression on the Palestinian population. None of that took place.
To the contrary, the Gaza Strip and West Bank has continuously been occupied, and has been compared to a concentration camp, often dubbed as an “open-air prison” within the international community that has continued to follow this tragedy. This occupation is an afront to all that is good, decent and natural, as the daily assaults and lack of basic provisions such as food and water have led to unremitting human suffering. Israel’s activities have been widely condemned by the international community - governments, organisations, activists, and numerous global bodies - for the humanitarian crisis it has induced over the decades. Now, in 2023, there is further catastrophic violence, with millions displaced … without food, water or medicines in the region, but most unfortunately, there are still so many people blaming average Palestinians for this newest conflict … the ones who have been suffering so greatly, for so long, without reprieve.
Beyond the immediate devastation and loss of life, the health consequences of humans locked in a war zone, within a repressive conflict zone, are profound and enduring. These wounds, these scars, this trauma, impacts all of humanity, … every life single life in Palestine, Israel and outside of it.
As an alternative health coach, as well as a naturopathy, herbal medicine student, I watch the news and scream at those who minimise this conflict as just another thing that is happening amidst rising inflation and changing weather conditions. This is a serious affront to human potential, as there are multifaceted health impacts from the scarcity of essential resources. There are risks of injury, global disease, environmental degradation, and long-term mental illness due to the psychological trauma and generational scars left by violent conflict. Depraved violence is unnatural to humans, as our essence thrives and progresses when we live in a peaceful environment that respects the body, mind and spirit, an environment that honours life and security. An environment that values our continuation as a species, without induced health defects or disease.
As an American who descends from enslaved Africans, I feel it’s my duty, in my capacity, to say something about this atrocity taking place in Palestine. If it weren’t for people around the world, people my ancestors didn’t even know about, voicing their condemnation of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, condemnation at the reduction of humans to mere chattel, condemnation of 17 million Africans being murdered by savagery and profit, I do believe I would still be enslaved. This is why every voice is needed, to be active physically and spiritually, to condemn this ongoing atrocity, so that we may as species grow out of our cycle of continuous trauma.
As I continue my journey in health and natural living, I will in this article, take a look at some of the health impacts of violent conflict, giving insight into the health burden the people of Palestine have been experiencing at the hands of their fellow humans for over 75 years.
A Struggle for Survival
In all conflict zones, there are dire shortages of essential resources, including clean water. We sometimes can become numb to that basic lacking, yet, there are 3 billion people on this planet without clean water, which is 1 in 3 people. Water is the universal solvent, it is essential for every chemical process in the body, it’s necessary to maintain life, and is essential as a healing therapy (for example, a cool cloth on the head during a fever). Unclean drinking water is the number one source of microbial pathogen transmission - a lack of clean water is a weapon in its own right. It’s estimated that 1,400 children die every single day from dirty drinking water, with over a million people dying each year. Don’t assume the water doesn’t exist - we waste 90% of rainfall on average, with India estimating 468 billion litres lost, and in the UK, three billion litres of drinking water is lost just from leaky pipes. Rainwater harvesting requires processing because of PFOA/PFAS, and fixing all leaks in pipes would require significant funding. Yet, if you compare that with the defence budget of the top 10 economies, $1.7 trillion dollars per year combined, the logical assumption would be that humans are prioritising death over life.
The disruption of supply chains, destruction of infrastructure, and displacement of communities is a weapon. It creates a desperate struggle for survival. Malnutrition becomes widespread, and this increases the 9 million people who die every year from a lack of food. They have people on-the-run, not stable enough, or strong enough, to have their own gardens and grow their own food. The people are dependent on aid, not because there is no land where they live, but because they have nowhere to live. With erosion and pollution being the cause of the elimination of 40% of arable land, pollution generated from the war machine only serves to increase the risk of malnutrition globally.
Without water or food, immune systems weaken, leaving individuals vulnerable to opportunistic infections and disease. In Gaza, this scarcity of food and clean water, is a daily struggle. It has been a daily struggle, for decades. It’s reported that the life expectancy in Palestine is 73 years, (and that is no small miracle). This is compared to Israel’s 82 years. The distance in life expectancy remaining 9-10 years apart for as long as such data has been tracked.
What could you do with 9 more years? The pressure from the conflict has not only resulted in immediate deaths, immediate suffering from a lack of basics, but also has robbed people of their longevity, their experiences, their memories, their future hopes and prayers.
Scarcity of life is quantified through malnutrition, weakened immune systems, and a heightened vulnerability to diseases, but the spiritual impact of this scarcity will never be known. This is why we can’t be glib when we hear there is no water or food. That cavalier attitude, that denial on the part of the occupiers in itself is a violent act, is a destructive act, and it will invariably impact us all if it isn’t stopped.
Injuries and Fear of Death is a Constant Presence
People subjected to living in war zones endure the constant threat of injury and death, which has not only a physical impact, but leaves psychological scars as well. Bombings, gunfire, removals, and collateral damage results in severe physical injuries, amputations, and lasting disabilities. Premature death and trauma is ever present, and for the survivors, witnessing this violence is destructive to mental health, leading to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a chronic, debilitating illness.
In this almost century of conflict, generations have grown up in constant fear. They have seen relatives disfigured and disabled from violence. They have witnessed the implements of violence - bombs, guns, weapons of annihilation, and most likely have nightmares about them being used on themselves or their loved ones. A pervasive and non-ceasing anxiety impacts cognitive function, mental health, physical function and attainment. Early life emotional trauma has been linked to stunted intellectual development - as much as 7.25 intellectual points lower than children without early life trauma. That’s enough points to make the difference between someone with an average IQ and someone considered to have an intellectual disability. That is the difference between an inventor, scientist, or healer having the cognitive ability to give the world their genius, their brilliant ideas, that could ostensibly save humanity.
Fear of death is trauma, and trauma is an affront to human potential - the humans we need to make a better world, a world where everyone on this planet can grow and thrive. This society minimises potential, renders it unimportant. Potential is important - we would never let anyone take away our potential earnings, so why do we eliminate our potential for a better world?
A Looming Health Crisis
We’ve just left a pandemic that has transformed the way we live and think about disease and treatment. The planet has been collectively shocked and terrorised by infective illness, and we still are unsure of how this began, or when it will truly end. Whatever your opinion, it’s often the environment that is blamed for Covid-19, but we forget the toll war has on the breeding, mutation and spread of infectious diseases and pathogens. Overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions, coupled with a lack of access to healthcare, exacerbate the risk of outbreaks. Cholera, typhoid, malaria, and other bacterial and viral illnesses flourish in these environments, further endangering the health of the people in Palestine, but also the entire world. For 75 years, illness has been commonplace for the people of Palestine, but their suffering has been ignored, with politics being of greater importance than health.
The body requires clean food, clean water, clean clothes and clean bodies. When anyone among us is without these things, we are at risk of becoming ill.
For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them. Matthew 13:15
When we worry about the scarcity and lacking within our own countries that aren’t afflicted with war, we should wonder whether the deafness of our ears and dullness of our hearts could be contributing to our own suffering and lack of health.
Scarring the Earth
The media is bereft with fears about the environment, the carbon footprint and the damage that may be unfixable due to our desires to travel the world or our choice to eat meat. But little is discussed about the environmental consequences of war. War, always, becomes essential, needed, even though at it’s root its aim is to destroy life, not preserve it. Wars are violent conflicts that treat human beings as collateral for the needs of a small minority, not the majority.
The carbon footprint of war is immense, and I believe, highly underestimated at 2,750 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, or 5.5% of the global emissions. We forget though, that the use of explosives, chemical weapons, and deforestation leads to long-lasting damage to ecosystems. These chemicals have rendered our naturally distilled rainwater undrinkable in it’s immediate form, which throughout human existence was the primary source of water for the planet, as it falls abundantly and can be stored easily. These explosives and chemicals lead to the further destruction of arable land for planting and growing food. These wars lead to the removal of our trees, which provide us with life by absorbing the excess carbon dioxide in the environment, leading to 10% of the global warming. These wars are killing all of us, whether we live in Palestine or not, slowly, but efficiently.
Long-term exposure to toxins have far-reaching consequences for the health of the planet, and has a profound impact on the Palestinians. The destruction of natural resources hinders their ability to rebuild and recover after conflict, a cycle that continues to enable great hardship from mass displacement, without access to shelter or sanitation. The end result being reduced life expectancy, a lowered quality of life, and further trauma from witnessing their scarred and humiliated earth. An earth out of balance and unable to sustain the lives of its inhabitants.
Genetic Imprint of Pain: A Violation of Humanity
The trauma experienced in war is not limited to the individual; it can be passed down through generations. Epigenetic studies (studies into the changes in gene activity that are not inherited), suggest that trauma can be imprinted into the DNA and passed down from parent to child. Studies using mice have shown fearful memories that parents have can be passed down to children, which has profound implications on the mental and physical health of descendants.
The intergenerational nature of war underscores the urgency of ending prolonged conflicts. The trauma experienced by Palestinians for over 75 years is not confined to the individual; it can extend across generations. It can be remembered in cells. The human species is a community, is a family, so why are we traumatising each other? Why are we murdering each other?
Conflict, war, and genocide are inherently unnatural to human beings. Humans are naturally inclined toward cooperation, compassion, and community-building. This is evident in our health state, with studies demonstrating that stress levels and genetic expression is improved when we pray. The effects of stress are reduced when we help someone. The violence and destruction of war disrupt the innate balance of the human body and soul, violating the humanity of individuals and societies. We are at odds with our own souls and genes when we allow conflict and violence.
There are those saying that humans have a growing number of genetic defects, and though I don’t know the truth of that assertion, I do know it wouldn’t be surprising, given the amount of trauma and fear we allow our bodies to take by condoning endless conflict.
Tolerance of War is Evil and Counterproductive
The definition of evil is something “profoundly immoral or wicked.” Wickedness in this context is something highly immoral, morally corrupt or profoundly unethical. We become immune to evil in our lives; it’s almost as if we expect it. We even joke about being evil or wicked, as if we’re just being a bit mean or naughty.
War isn’t a bit mean, it isn’t naughty. Tolerance of destruction, particularly unprovoked destruction, means that the spirit is filled with a murderous blood-lust; soulless and inhumane. Tolerance of war is a profound character flaw, the domain of the untrustworthy, and counterproductive to humans’ natural state of living in harmony.
It is our duty to strive for a world where diplomacy and peaceful resolution is the option, where the most extreme of interventions are not chosen before we have prioritised health over conflict. This is not only essential for our physical and spiritual well-being, but also for the preservation of the planet.
The interconnectedness of body, mind, and spirit is fundamental to human well-being. Violent conflict disrupts that delicate balance, causing physical suffering, mental anguish, and spiritual distress. Understanding that all humans deserve to have a balanced body, mind and spirit make the prospect of war intolerable to existence.
Healing from the scars of conflict requires addressing the body-mind-spirit holistically. That must start with those immediately affected through an urgent end to the occupation of Palestine.
Conclusion
Even for those who do not directly experience the horrors of war, being a witness to it has its own set of health consequences. The profound sense of powerlessness, anger, and sorrow can have a lasting impact on one's emotional and spiritual health - war's consequences extend far beyond its immediate victims. This trauma then becomes locked in the DNA, and spreads throughout countries, impacting their own health and sovereignty over time.
War is a deeply unnatural state of existence for humanity. But we’ve become deaf to it, we’ve become complacent. Despite the known impact to generations, we permit it, justify it, and negate our own personal, moral and ethical duty to strive for a more peaceful and natural way of living. A way of living that aligns with the body-mind-spirit connection, and respects the intrinsic Godliness of the human soul.
The ongoing conflict in Gaza has led to profound and enduring health consequences for those living there, and these health consequences are relevant to all of us. Humans are both strong and fragile, and there is a delicate balance that war disrupts. If we just take the time to face this atrocity, and use all of our mental capacity to truly envision a free and natural world, we can achieve an end to this horror.
