By: Sydney Umstead, News Editor
On Feb. 11, The Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) hosted their event “The Cost of Witnessing: Survivor's Guilt and War Toll.”
The event featured a talk from four professors and a faculty panel for questions after the individual presentations.
The professors – in presentation order – were: Dr. David Devereaux, Dr. Shyam Sriram, Dr. Anita Butera and Dr. Tanya Loughead.
One of the discussions led by Sriram, political science department chair, centered on the U.N. definition of genocide and Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma (TTT). Sriram began by noting how since the letter “P” in Palestine does not exist in Arabic, there is an argument about how the anglicized name is “in itself a form of colonialism, not even allowing Falastini to call it what its rightful name is.”
Sriram brought in his personal experience when opening up the conversation to the real-world impact of colonialism. He then moved to highlight a photo of a white phosphorus cloud, a chemical weapon that has been used by Israel forces and is “produced in Arkansas.”
Sriram used this to discuss America’s complex role in the war, stating, “Not only are we arming Israel monetarily, but we are giving them the weapons that they are then using to kill other people.”
This led into the conversation about TTT, in which trauma is carried through genetic material. Therefore, the trauma “becomes a constant physical reminder of past events – our own and those of our parents, grandparents and beyond.”
Following this, Butera, the director of criminal justice, situated her presentation on the emotional toll of generational trauma and the impact of survivor’s guilt. Butera stated, “It is characterized by very intense feelings, by self-blaming and by the ability to function in your daily life.”
She went on to discuss the history that we are taught about Palestine and how it is “the history of Palestine as it is seen in the eye of the west.”
Butera discussed the Nakba, which translates to “catastrophe,” saying that though the Nakba is said to have started in 1948, “the massacre of Palestinians started much earlier than 1948.” Furthermore, she noted the devastation caused by the Nakba, and how it is a “trauma that is also related to the denial of your own history.” She explained that “only now are we starting to talk about it.”
Loughead was next to speak and discussed the words of philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, noting how “within his own ethics, the other is first, and I am second.”
This opened to a conversation on individualism, and the emphasis that gets placed onto the self. Loughead stated that for Levinas, “his philosophy is that this is all wrong, and that ethics must be first philosophy.” Explaining, she said, “The self is founded on the other, and the other is first, and the other is what allows me to exist.” She argued how, by that philosophy, ethics must be put before individualistic ideals.
The event concluded with a Q & A with the faculty panel.