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Transgenerational Traumas in the 2023 Israel–Hamas War

Johansson, Johannes LU (2024) FKVK02 20241
Department of Political Science
Abstract
This thesis investigates how the traumas of the Holocaust and the Nakba have been utilized by Israeli and Palestinian political elites in media rhetoric during the first month of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. With the theory of the transmission of chosen transgenerational traumas as a point of departure, this study finds that political leaders have frequently utilized historical traumas as points of reference to the current escalation of hostilities. This rhetoric is based on the perception that an existential battle is currently underway, in which defeat is equated with a disastrous repetition of history. Therefore, circumstances required for the reactivation of transgenerational traumas through a time collapse have been met. As political... (More)
This thesis investigates how the traumas of the Holocaust and the Nakba have been utilized by Israeli and Palestinian political elites in media rhetoric during the first month of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. With the theory of the transmission of chosen transgenerational traumas as a point of departure, this study finds that political leaders have frequently utilized historical traumas as points of reference to the current escalation of hostilities. This rhetoric is based on the perception that an existential battle is currently underway, in which defeat is equated with a disastrous repetition of history. Therefore, circumstances required for the reactivation of transgenerational traumas through a time collapse have been met. As political communication at the onset of the war has been of a fateful nature, it can be ascertained that making concessions is perceived to have devastating consequences. Political leadership, with the state as shaper of public opinion, may furthermore have an interest in invocating traumas to strengthen their own positions. The disastrous consequences of the ongoing war can be assumed to deepen the already prevalent traumas, making a future peace process and a mutual understanding of the other’s trauma harder than ever to achieve. (Less)
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author
Johansson, Johannes LU
supervisor
organization
course
FKVK02 20241
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Israeli–Palestinian conflict, 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Holocaust, Nakba, transgenerational traumas, conflict narratives, conflict memories
language
English
id
9154008
date added to LUP
2024-07-18 14:05:14
date last changed
2024-07-18 14:05:14
@misc{9154008,
  abstract     = {{This thesis investigates how the traumas of the Holocaust and the Nakba have been utilized by Israeli and Palestinian political elites in media rhetoric during the first month of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. With the theory of the transmission of chosen transgenerational traumas as a point of departure, this study finds that political leaders have frequently utilized historical traumas as points of reference to the current escalation of hostilities. This rhetoric is based on the perception that an existential battle is currently underway, in which defeat is equated with a disastrous repetition of history. Therefore, circumstances required for the reactivation of transgenerational traumas through a time collapse have been met. As political communication at the onset of the war has been of a fateful nature, it can be ascertained that making concessions is perceived to have devastating consequences. Political leadership, with the state as shaper of public opinion, may furthermore have an interest in invocating traumas to strengthen their own positions. The disastrous consequences of the ongoing war can be assumed to deepen the already prevalent traumas, making a future peace process and a mutual understanding of the other’s trauma harder than ever to achieve.}},
  author       = {{Johansson, Johannes}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Transgenerational Traumas in the 2023 Israel–Hamas War}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}