If ever there was a case of the inmates taking over the asylum…
The Palestinian Health Ministry accused Hamas of seizing control of a psychiatric hospital in Gaza in recent weeks and evicting the patients to transform it into a prison for Fatah supporters, according to Israeli media reports.
Israel-based reporter David Bedein informed readers of The Bulletin, an emerging conservative daily newspaper in Philadelphia, that Hamas has established a new command headquarters in a building in the yard of the hospital.
Surprised? I sure am. No, I’m not surprised that Hamas seized a psychiatric hospital, but that Gaza would have a facility aimed at treating mental illness in a terrain where sanity is deviant behavior.
No question that the Jewish people alone, not to mention Westerners in general, can be a neurotic bunch. Many Jews are products of dsyfunctional families, but the mental health of Jews and other Westerners is exceptional when compared to the Arab world.
Not only is it ironic that Hamas’s leaders are now gathered in a facility to treat mental illness, but this move offered a brief window of opportunity to resolve relations between Israel and its hostile neighbors.
Very simply, their presence in a psychiatric hospital could have been an opportunity for the Hamas leaders themselves to get treatment. Unfortunately, Hamas kicked out the medical staff. In addition, I have to wonder if a psychiatric hospital in Gaza genuinely measures up to the standards expected of your average mental health facility.
Think of it. If the medical professionals are recalled to the hospital, they could sit down with the Hamas leaders one at a time and help them process - don’t you love that word? - their feelings about themselves as they apply to Israel.
Let’s take one issue - another loveable word - at a time with advice of a therapist:
Those rocket attacks
Therapist: You have a deep need to act out. There is a lot of energy in you, and you might wish to consider redirecting those energies. Find another outlet. If you like to command troops, perhaps you can coach a soccer team. If you enjoy erecting missile launchers, maybe you can try building cars or homes.
Detention of Cpl. Gilad Shalit
Therapist: You have a consuming need for control. You are so obsessive about relationships that sometimes you cannot let go. The very idea of his release makes you feel threatened. There are times when you must let go.
Alliance with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Therapist: That’s easy. Peer pressure. It is so tempting to fall in with the wrong crowd in your neighborhood. I know it is hard, but you must be careful to choose the right kind of friends if you hope to improve your life. Not to mention staying alive.
Since this guy is receiving counseling, I wonder what the therapist would say about such internal cultural habits as honor killings and blood feuds.
Therapist: Oh, no. We cannot touch such issues. We have no right to make judgments about their cultural traditions. That would be…insensitive.