The "Palestinian" Syndrome
What do you call the progenitors of a movement, and its removed and uninformed, yet clamoring, sympathizers, who rationalize suicide bombings (happening decade upon decade, no matter peace plans and “Palestinian” statehood on the table) - the use of civilians, including children, as human shields - weaponized (gang) rape (with sexual mutilation for kicks) - the taking of hostages - indiscriminate killing… by the name of “resistance.” How do you explain the linguistricks of converting what decency recognizes, with sentient untainted immediacy, to be savagery, into the term “freedom fighting.” How do you gloss and reframe Shani Louk, a young woman, last seen boho-vibing at a rave (looking every bit like the glossy-ripe young people who rationalize the tactics of her killers on college campuses), a girl unresponsible for the decades of regional strife preceding her, filmed dead and nearly naked, face down in the lap of a hooting proud hitman in the back of his getaway pickup truck, being spit on by crowding civilians, her legs posed obscenely from having been cracked at the knees by the last hands on her, as seen in the prize-winning photo shot by a journalist on scene.
The Pro-Palestine movement says, essentially, that Shani Louk looking like a serial killer positioned her for her final photo, is something justified. That the repetition en masse of this degree of sadistic atrocity (in colorful variety- tying together and burning alive parent and child, beheading babies, you name it), is called for.
What are we dealing with here, when such blindness, barrenness, feels emboldened to shout and demand- and is met. When those who perpetrate or applaud this kind of violence and mentality want to trade in the human currency of language to tout the unspeakable as necessary. These so-called advocates of the Palestinians, so far as they do not acknowledge and condemn the barbarity of October 7th, employ “dead language” sensu Toni Morrison. See Morrison’s 1993 Nobel Lecture for her description of a language that “actively thwarts the intellect, stalls conscience,” decenters the reality of deliberate malignant atrocity committed upon the innocent- that is: up close and personal violence, as if operationalized by an army of Dahmers. (I dare you to misapply and cramp Morrison’s broadly human plea. I know some will. Neither Shani nor the baby in its crib is interested. And you are no true Leftist, no fighter for the vulnerable, when you believe in taking scapegoats, when you believe in Ursula Le Guin’s basement child, but extra tortured, for your “cause.”
These advocates don’t even help the children they claim. They don’t name their real butchers, they don’t condemn Hamas eating its young: hiding like arch cowards under babies, then cynically using the deaths of the children, that they orchestrated, to pitch their cause- from the river to the sea, Jew-free (the last part the unspoken point, as ‘hinted’ by foiled peace efforts, i.e., unremitting terrorism, and consistent rejection of Palestinian statehood proposals over the decades).
A 2023 article that appeared in the journal Current Psychology entitled “Understanding left-wing authoritarianism: Relations to the dark personality traits, altruism, and social justice commitment” (Krispenz & Bertrams) proposes an explanation for the dissonance between a functionally human grasp of the situation and how it is spun by the terrorist regime Hamas and the pro-Palestine movement. Two studies the scientists conducted investigated the relationship between authoritarianism- left-wing or right-wing- and the ego-oriented trait of narcissism. Further, they examined subjects (representative samples) to see whether the “prosocial” tendencies (altruism, social justice commitment, a wish to transform inequality) that the Left aligns itself with outweighed narcissistic satisfaction as the prod for activistic involvement. The studies found that antagonistic narcissism, above and beyond prosocial dispositions, predicted with statistical significance anti-hierarchical aggression, a subfacet of left-wing authoritarianism (LWA; in short- ideological absolutism that may sanction violence). While antihierarchical aggression can be understood as last-resort militancy, the problem is that antagonistic narcissism is characterized by “exploitation of others, lack of empathy, a sense of entitlement, arrogance and manipulative behavior.” Hence, when narcissism is behind left-wing (or other) agitation, the cause is rooted (and this holds for a statistically significant portion of individuals) in ego-centered motives, not in legitimate ideological commitment.
A second study conducted by Krispenz and Bertrams found that LWA antihierarchical aggression was predicted by psychopathy, once again to a degree outweighing the influence of individuals’ prosocial dispositions.
Krispenz and Bertrams term the phenomenon uncovered by both of the studies they conducted the dark-ego-vehicle principle. It describes individuals involved in political struggle who are not acting authentically, but from ego-focused motives. These findings are not an indictment of everyone engaged in political activism. They simply identify that a subset of individuals with personalities marked by high narcissistic and psychopathic traits are drawn to certain ideologies and forms of political activism.
If one does not ‘mean it’, as their studies show many don’t, it’s not hard to see what the pull would be for narcissists in becoming politically involved. To berate, to intimidate, to divert and express one’s rage, and to do all this donning a virtuous, entitling mask is a narcissist’s dream. Humans are unconscious to different degrees. Some are highly unconscious, not self-reflective, and do not even know why they do what they do. These are people easily swayed. Others are more canny, yet helpless (without control and seeking control); and if they need an out for their antisocial tendencies, a call to intifada may provide that.
A proposed clinical subcategory of the dark-ego-vehicle prototheory: the Palestinian Syndrome. Sufferers fit the above description, they use political struggle as a vehicle for their own private and aggressive motives; but there is a difference, a plus, an excess, with the Palestinian Syndrome. The Palestinian Syndrome is also marked by self-victimization- unto death. Palestinian society is rife with inculcation to martyrdom and suicide bombing as well as domestic abuse, including child abuse, including taking children as human shields to be killed. It’s a society marked by suicide, abuse, and depression, yet it keeps all of these agonies alive by constantly waging war on the ‘Other’ next door, the Palestinian leadership knowing well that their imaginary enemy must respond and protect itself. The Palestinian Syndrome manifests across a spectrum. Milder symptoms include: vicarious victimhood, on the part of those not on the ground, maybe not even knowing where Gaza is, and ignorant of how Hamas and the society it has hijacked and raised functions. More specifically, mild sufferers engage in blocking bridges, occupying buildings, intimidating pedestrians, echoing Hamas talking points on social media, and either disavowing or experiencing euphoria upon hearing about sadistic predation. A full-blown manifestation of the syndrome includes: mass killing (initiatory.), mass raping, mass sexual mutilation, refusing at all times any and all accountability, and spreading an inverted narrative, thereby creating chaos globally.
One’s level of educational attainment does not make one immune to the syndrome.
One proposed remedy, still seeking FDA approval, is the very hard work of self-confrontation- or letting the false ego die.
https://x.com/MosabHasanYOSEF/status/1803534151167193236
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