"What have I done!" - a hundred soldiers treated for "Intifada Syndrome" by Ma'ariv 7:34pm Mon Nov 11 '02 "What have I done!" - a hundred soldiers treated for "Intifada Syndrome" translated from Ma'ariv by TOI-staff 11/5/02 print article "What have I done!" - a hundred soldiers treated for "Intifada Syndrome" translated from Ma'ariv by TOI-staff 11/5/02 A special "rehabilitation village" has been set up to take care of former combat soldiers who suffer from a deep mental crisis, a hundred of whom are at present undergoing treatment. Some suffer from nightmares, and are unable to face up to operational failures and having harmed civilians. Veterans of elite units are being treated at the "Izun" rehabilitation village near Caesarea, by a staff including seven reserve officers. The project is supported by Orit Mofaz, wife of the new Defence Minister. The treatment is financed by the ex-soldiers' parents. Today four new patients will be admitted, ex-members of Duvdevan [Special Forces unit carrying out arrests and assassinations while disguised as Arabs]. Exclusive - by Ethan Rabin They joined the most elite of units, full of motivation. They served terms of three years and more, fought in the hardest battles of the initifada, but also had to face the civilian Palestinian population. Now that they had been discharged the difficulties are exposed, the personal problems and crises. Dozens of them went on backpacking trips to the Far East where they became drug addicted to Heroine, Cocaine and other hard drugs. Some tried to commit suicide. In face of this difficult situation, reserve colonel Omri Frish, former combat officer and a social worker by training, took the initiative of trying to save these "backapcking soldiers". He and several other former officers had set up the Izun Rehabilitation Village near Caesarea. In fact, when we set up the village, we just knew that more and more of the young Israelis who go on backpaking trips to India, Thailand and other places are coming back in a condition of total collapse and are in urgent need of help. But when we took up the task of helping them, we realized that in the majority of cases the phenomenon is related to experiences of military service prior to their going abroad. So we decided to take up all cases of former combat soldiers in crisis, also those who had not gone first through the Far East. We made the new Rehabilitation Village known and were staggered by the number of calls we got, from ex-soldiers and especially parents - more than 900 so far. The parents told very painful stories of sons becoming drug addicts and trying to commit suicide. Many of them were veterans of the most prestigious elite units such as Sayeret Matkal, the Naval Commandos and Duchifat." One of the main issues arising in talks with the soldiers is the Intifada. "The soldiers burst out crying and accuse themselves of mistreating Palestinians and humiliating them. Now, after being discharged, the vision of what they had done is playing itself in their minds like a non-stop film. Suddenly the soldier, the tough fighter who had been nicknamed 'Rambo', goes to India. There he experiences another reality, a quiet and peaceful situation. When he comes back he realizes what he had done. He tries to escape from reality, to escape into drugs, and his life becomes a ruin" says one of the doctors. It is difficult to categorize precisely the menta l damage caused to the soldiers. "it is not exactly shell shock. It is not precisely a post- traumatic condition, either. It is just a very severe mental crisis. This situation is a real time bomb" says a senior IDF officer. One of the main problems arising, especially in treating former members of elite units, is extreme anxiety about failure. "These people are not taught to accept the possibility of failure. In these elite units they are told that failure is unacceptable, and th at a 90% success also counts as failure. When you are 18, 19 or 20 you can believe in such standards. Afterwards, they become more realistic - but that's too late. When you tell soldiers that failure is completely unacceptable and they nevertheless fail, they just break. Then they go into a mental crisis and get into drugs. The drugs help them to rearrange the reality". One of the staff's main problems is the patients' strong feeling that it is illegitimate to break, to cry or ask for help. "They were told that they are supermen, and supermen don't ask for help. Supermen can solve all problems by themselves. But they don't succeed to solve all the problems, and then they go around with an enormous guilt feeling, a feeling that they are worth nothing". S., a former paratrooper fighter who is under treatment for the past three months, said: "We went into houses. We saw children and old people crying. We shot at their TV sets. At the time you feel no pity, you just have a job to do and you do it. But when afterwards you sit at home, you start realizing what you have done and it hurts you deeply." Since the village was opened, hundreds of parents asked to have their sons treated there. So far, 120 people were treated, about a 100 of them discharged soldiers. "The problems are severe. Soldiers who killed Palestinians, soldiers who by mistake killed a fellow soldier, soldiers who failed in their military tasks. When we ask 'why did you do it', they say 'I don't know why, it was as if there was another person inside me'" says Omri. "There are cases where the request for help comes too late. There was an officer of Sayeret Matkal who fought against the Palestinians for two consecutive years. After discharge he went to Thailand and became a drug addict. In Israel he went on to become a very heavy cocaine user. His parents called and asked us to help him. We agreed but on the day before he was due to arrive here he was found dead in his room". Another former fighter had gone to Latin America and became hooked on the cactus-derived San Pedro drug. He drank it and went under the table and refused to come out. He said 'No, no, I can't go out, I am on ambush.' He also refused to take food and drink, and said 'You don't eat and drink while on ambush'. This is one of the seeming successes, the man is now trying to find a job and rebuild his life. A former fighter of the Duvdevan Special Forces unit, only recently discharged from the army, told: "We all the time went into houses and confronted the Palestinians. Many of them were innocent. At the time, we did not care. We were told that that was our assignment, that we had to do our job, and we did it. Now I am sorry for some of the things I did. I can do nothing, I have no work and I talk to nobody. I just sit all day watching animated films on the children's TV network, and from time to time I get up and start hitting my head against the wall, and I don't know why I am doing it. Another soldier said: "I served three years in the territories. We killed dozens of terrorists. I saw my friends getting killed. It made me very nervous. A few months ago I went on drive in my parents' car. Somebody bypassed in his car, and that made me angry. I chased him, caught him at a traffic light and then I just opened his door, dragged him out of his car and started to beat him up."(...) A whole group of soldiers who needed treatment were those concerned with liquidating the senior terrorist Iyad Batat, a year and half ago. "At first we were happy and elated with our success. We posed for photographs over the remnants of the mangled body, some of us smiling and laughing while holding his torn-off organs. Suddenly, a few weeks later, the Operations Officer came, reprimanded us and demanded that we hand over those photographs. He burned them in front of us and warned us never to take such photos again. When we started realizing what we had done we felt very upset. A short time later, two of us went to party where they took a lot of Extasy pills. They came back to camp totally doped. We had to take away their guns and close them up in a room, until the psychiatrists came to take them. One of them didn't recognize anybody, and was all the time shouting "Muhammad, Muhammad, Muhammad." He became totally crazy. The intifada has finished him." (...) add your comments Source file

Real Journalism by John Morris 12:50am Wed Nov 13 '02 phone: 95587051 John_Morris@clubmac.org.au print comment Good on you for publishing this about the effects on Israeli soldiers. The drug and morale problems mirror the US armies problems later in the Vietnam war, one of the factors that lead to their pull-out. The US only finally overcame this spectre with the 91 Gulf war. Your article is real journalim, hard to find here in OZ with the hype about Bali, International terrorism and all the other bad muslim stuff. add your comments

Stop Zionist Hatemongers! by Christos 3:59am Wed Nov 13 '02 print comment Zionists continually reveal themselves to be among the most hateful people on the planet. These brave IDF soldiers do not have "Intifada Syndrome" as this article states. On the contrary, these "refuseniks" simply suffer from having a conscience and a soul (unlike some who post to this website), and they refuse to kill unarmed civilians (including small children) in the racist occupation of their country. Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword. Those who plunder will always live in terror. add your comments

zionists reveal...? by Daniel 5:40pm Thu Nov 14 '02 print comment i don't get this response, although i should understand it by now seeing as i've come across it frequently on this site. ok, i think this article was great and it shows the transformation people undergo when serving in the military. what i don't get is the comment above about 'zionists continue to reveal themselves to be hateful people'. i'm not even sure that's what the author of the article was trying to say. why must people take such large leaps of judgment from good articles like this? take it for what it is. it exposes the harsh realities and lack of humanity among many (not all) soldiers in the IDF. where does it say anything about zionists? you say zionists reveal themselves to be hateful people in a really comfortable, general manner, as though anyone who believes israel should exist is inherently a hateful person. if you do not mean that then be more careful how you word your responses. if you do mean that then you're ignorant and should be more worried about dealing with that problem than the supposed 'hate' of others. add your comments

compassion is the key by jackslucid 2:46pm Fri Nov 15 '02 jackslucid@hotmail.com print comment I find this story very sad and all to human. I have encountered this phenomena repeatedly in historical accounts of war and conflict. Men and women are bent out of shape, have there very essence polluted by hatred and division, and all the while the directors of such deseased spectacles grow rich and ever distant from justice. I feel nothing but compassion for those israelis currently awakening to their higher-selves, it is a painful process coming to terms with abuse, and what they have been ordered to do is certainly an abuse of their human rights, let alone that of the other victims of this abuse - the so called 'enemy'. But they should take strength from the knowledge that every word and action they now commit to right what ever wrongs they have committed is a positive and life affirming step. They have my love and support. add your comments