An appeal to individuals and professional organizations

.
The current operation started on October 27, 2005.

The latest ’non-lethal’ Israeli attack, is directed at the entire civilian
population. It is criminal in its very nature, and therefore totally
unacceptable. It is another measure in a long row of systematic atrocities,
persecution, and destruction that the Israeli army has inflicted on Gaza
Palestinians during the last years. In the context of the wide spread
horrors which Israel perpetuated against Gaza civilians earlier, such as
massive home destructions, inflicting numerous death on children and their
parents, and the increasing malnutrition which Gaza children suffer because
of continuing unemployment, closures and sieges

As mental health professionals, we know that this campaign of supersonic
booms is a severe risk for the mental health of children who are trying to
recover from the severe traumas caused by the military occupation

Research done in GCMHP shows that in areas where heavy home destruction was
practiced the level of PTSD was as high as 54% among children, and that adds
an overwhelming strain on the development of mother-child relations develop

(Qouta et al., 2003; 2005 see hereunder).

We demand an urgent stop of these and similar criminal acts against helpless
civilians, most of which have becoming refugees as a result of Israeli
expulsion, in 1948. These people have suffered more than enough.

As you will see from attached news reports in the Israeli press, this evil
operation, which is directed indiscriminately against the entire Palestinian
population of Gaza, is something the Israeli regime takes pride in.
Gaza Community Mental Health Program -GCMHP jointly with

Please disseminate this information further, contact your governments and ask them to
make their voices heard, and join this protest.

Background:

Translation of fragments of reports, which appeared in the Hebrew Media
lately.

On 27 October 2005 Haaretz Defense Commentator Zeev Schiff wrote, "Some of
the direct military pressure (of the Israeli military) will be directed (at
the terrorists) through the Palestinian population. It is anticipated that
the Israeli Air Force will cause supersonic booms over certain areas in the
(Gaza) strip. These booms will primarily affect the civilian inhabitants.
(Note: That portion only appeared in the Hebrew Edition). Link:
http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtPE.jhtml?itemNo=638423
<http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pag...>
the Israeli
Physician for Human Rights - PHR-Israel, filed yesterday a petition against
the Israeli Ministry of Defense and asked the country’s High Court to ban
this flights.
But as the Israeli court is accustomed to approve most measures of Israel’s
military, we urge you to act to bring pressure on the Israeli government.
&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0

These sound booms’ operation had hardly started when the protests of Israeli
civilians started pouring in. The Israeli press described the booms as
“mysterious” and the Israeli military spokesman denied any knowledge of the
operation. (Israeli citizens living in places as distant from Gaza as 50
kilometers and more were alarmed by the booms, which they described as
“horrific”, “disturbing” and “very frightening”).

The (Israeli) Air Force in Gaza

by Hanan Griberg, YNET. 2 November 2005 In Hebrew.

<http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,73...>
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3163407,00.html

“(Israel) must produce a real deterrence in Gaza”

In an interview with YNET, the AF commander Major General Eliezer Shkeidi
told about the new role of the Israeli Air Force in the war in the (Gaza)
Strip:
Following the IDF evacuation of the Gaza strip, the Air Force is
next to being the only operating force in the sector. “Now we operate in all
the configurations; the fighting system, which was not highly deployed in
the past, flies a hell of a lot. It performs supersonic booms, it attacks
infrastructure, roads axis and approaches roads from which Qassam rockets
are fired. The fighter jets, helicopters and drones are continuously
active”.

Maj. Gen. Shkeidi (quoted in the article as “a very senior AF
officer”) describes the supersonic booms, which the IDF fighter jets sound
over the (Gaza) strip as “non lethal weapons”. He says, “the volume level
(which is currently used) is not at its top level now”, adding: “Believe me,
when it is at maximal level you could not live”...

Shkeidi describes this is an “effective non-lethal tool, when
coupled together with ’targeted killings’ (i.e. summary executions) and
other activities which comprise the deterrence”. Shkeidi confirmed that the
(Israeli) Air Force executes “complicated and dangerous tasks, such as low
altitude night flights to cause supersonic booms”.

References:

Qouta, S., Punamaki, R. L. & El Sarraj, E. (2003). Prevalence and
determinants of PTSD among Palestinian children exposed to military
violence. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry,12,265-27

Qouta, S., Punamäki, R. L., & El Sarraj, E. (2005). Mother-Child Expression
of Psychological Distress in War Trauma. Clinical Child Psychology and
Psychiatry,10,135-156