HEROES * HOUNDING HEROICS : MASTER GLOBAL ESSAY

 

DEGREES OF ATTACHMENT : The Global Founder Framers of The World Students Society rise to thank most profoundly and sincerely, the students, teachers, professors and the parents of the entire world for their total support.

THE SUMUD FLOTILLA of some 40 boats with 500 people on board from 47 countries, attempted to get to Gaza in a symbolic gesture to highlight the need to get aid to besieged Palestinians.

'' When the world stays silent, we set sail,'' states the Global Sumud Flotilla website. The participants were everyday people - organisers, humanitarians, doctors, artists, clergy and lawyers.

SUMUD is an Arabic term for steadfastness. This was the latest and largest of several flotillas since 2010, during which many have lost their lives, were imprisoned or deported by Israeli authorities.

The heroic nature of sailing fragile boats across the Mediterranean Sea to save people in impossible conditions is not lost given the legendary history of this sea, traversed by heroes such as Odysseus, Theseus and Jason with Argonauts.

Is this a new generation of the Sea Peoples of 1177 BC that brought down the powerful empires of the Bronze Age?

Fanciful speculation aside, this attempt stands in sharp contrast to the silence of the world governments that were once quick to support and protect the people of East Timor, Bosnia and the civilians of many other conflict zones.

What is seen today is a cultivated detachment from the sufferings of Palestinian people, despite worldwide public protests.

There are many degrees of detachment, from emotional numbness - often due to childhood trauma that presents itself as social withdrawal to - intellectual detachment, considered necessary to focus on logic and reason over emotion.

Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud came to be known as the the three '' masters of suspicion '', for adopting a form of intellectual detachment to seek hidden truth.

Soldiers in war zones may '' switch off '' their emotions to protect themselves from being overwhelmed by horrifying events, allowing them to focus on mission demands.

Emotional detachment during combat is linked to an increased risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder [ PTSD ], especially in the recent wars of dubious moral standing in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Stories of PTSD experienced by Israeli soldiers sent on a mission of ghastly genocide are trickling in.

Detachment may be recommended by psychologists as necessary for emotional survival during upheavals - personal or societal. People set boundaries for emotional self-protection when faced with problems they cannot solve, stepping back from harmful situations or relationships.

Detachment is no longer an option, even if it translates as raising one's voice, as so many across the world have.

The World Students Society thanks Durriya Kazi.