The polarised discourse on the Middle East is hurting us. We must find ways to listen across the divide

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Sydney. ‘If we don’t find ways to listen … the current conflict playing out so catastrophically will remain embedded in patterns of trauma for generations to come.’ Photograph: Roni Bintang/Getty Images

I’ve spent the past two weeks watching the news and my social media feed fill with horror, alarm and grief, and have listened to a range of voices to understand the historical context of this devastating conflict in the Middle East.

We usually only turn to psychology during conflict when dealing with the aftermath – PTSD, depression, anxiety, and addiction – but psychology can also explain the current dynamics in the world, especially through trauma literature. When we experience complex, intergenerational traumas, we build schemas (or templates) around how we think about ourselves and the world. Israeli, Jewish, Palestinian, Arabic and Muslim people all carry severe historical traumas, and trauma-based reactions are thus magnified. Recognition of the trauma of one does not negate recognition of the other. These traumas mirror each other and involve being hated, persecuted, isolated, abandoned and dispossessed.