Overview

This book creates a vital space for psychoanalytic thought on the Israel-Palestine conflict, one of the most polarizing and emotionally charged geopolitical struggles of our time. In the wake of the horrific events of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza, marked by death, famine, and destruction, the global community has been deeply divided. These divisions have also reverberated within the psychoanalytic profession, straining relationships between patients and clinicians, colleagues, and professional organizations. Unlike other conflicts, this struggle often leads to such extreme polarization that thought and speech are shut down by accusations of hatred or prejudice, making meaningful dialogue nearly impossible. Refusing the collusion of silence in the face of alleged war crimes and genocide, this book offers a thoughtful exploration of the psychological mechanisms underlying the conflict and our responses to it. It traces the historical contexts of the conflict, from its origins in 1948 and earlier, while examining contemporary manifestations of trauma, identity, and collective psychology. The chapters are carefully sequenced to move through themes of context, applied psychoanalytic theory, considerations of therapeutic and community interventions, personal narratives, and creative approaches to healing and reconciliation. This book is intended for a wide audience, including psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, scholars of peace and conflict studies, Middle Eastern politics and history, trauma studies, social psychology, and international relations. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy.

Full Product Details

Author:   Paul Cundy
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.430kg
ISBN:  

9781041235170

ISBN 10:   1041235178
Pages:   136
Publication Date:   04 May 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Introduction 1. With so many conflicts, why have a special issue on the war in Israel/Palestine? 2. Confronting the inhuman 3. Some psychoanalytic reflections on the events in Gaza 4. Understanding evil: a psychoanalytic perspective on the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023 5. The role of the revenge cycle in the conflict in Gaza 6. Transitioning from soldier’s matrix to the development of negative capability 7. Intractable international conflicts: psychodynamic understanding and hope for resolution 8. Dissociation and trauma in the context of mental health responses for those populations affected by severe adversity and suffering during warfare: adopting a socio-cultural perspective on Israel-Palestine 9. When truth is not shared 10. Vulnerable encounters: identities and their discontents 11. Poetry and re-imagining in a time of crisis ‘Changing the very terms of the dilemma’

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Author Information

Paul Cundy is a Clinical Psychologist and Psychodynamic Psychotherapist who was employed in the NHS for 18 years. He now works in private practice, the third sector and higher education and is Editor of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy.

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