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“I can be my own therapist now, I can calm myself down and control my emotions to not harm myself or others. I am happy to have had this chance and hope to do the Intisar Foundation’s drama therapy programme again.”
My name is Hiba, I am a 32-year-old Syrian living near Bchamoun near Beirut, Lebanon. I am a married mother of three.
I am originally from a village close to the Iraqi border, where my family and I witnessed the war’s most horrific events. We lived through the rise of ISIS, experiencing the horrors of its rule.
There are countless incidents that I want to share with the world. I want people to know what we suffered from, but there are too many to count. At the very beginning, there was one thing that set the tone for the many years that would come after. Two neighbours had had a fight that spread some rumours about one woman. We all knew better than to believe these things, but the ISIS militants in my village wanted to establish their dominance and brought her out to the main road. They made the men of the village come out of their houses and watch as she was publicly executed. I hid in my house, shielding my two young children at the time, but we could hear the screams of terror. My third child was born in these conditions. Many more things followed, and unfortunately, my family and I were there to witness it all. We only got out after about four years which was when we moved to Lebanon.
“I hid in my house, shielding my two young children at the time, but we could hear the screams of terror. We only got out after about four years which was when we moved to Lebanon.”
There are countless incidents that I want to share with the world. I want people to know what we suffered from, but there are too many to count. At the very beginning, there was one thing that set the tone for the many years that would come after. Two neighbours had had a fight that spread some rumours about one woman. We all knew better than to believe these things, but the ISIS militants in my village wanted to establish their dominance and brought her out to the main road. They made the men of the village come out of their houses and watch as she was publicly executed. I hid in my house, shielding my two young children at the time, but we could hear the screams of terror. My third child was born in these conditions. Many more things followed, and unfortunately, my family and I were there to witness it all. We only got out after about four years which was when we moved to Lebanon.
Like many other refugees in Lebanon, my family and I suffer financially. I feel terrible because my children and I are cooped up in one room.
How did I get to know about the Intisar Foundation? I was interested in the idea of the drama therapy programme because I had rarely ever left my house. I suffocated myself out of the fear and stress of daily life. I was often angry and hard on my kids. Even though I love my children, it was so hard to express my feelings of love because I was overwhelmed with negative emotions. I never noticed these patterns until I started to speak about them in the sessions.
Leaving the house every week to do something for me gave me some space to reflect and speak with other women who went through similar difficulties. Although listening to their stories sometimes was not easy, I felt that it gave me perspective on the reality of the world. My husband sometimes objected that I was leaving the house for drama therapy sessions, but I insisted on going because I needed to do something for myself.
I found myself becoming more open and affectionate with my children, more capable of letting things pass without leaving me angry or anxious. I would tell myself “They are children, they are allowed to play because this is the only place they have in the world”. Every time I think that something bad might happen, I tell myself that it will pass with ease. I can be my own therapist now, I can calm myself down and control my emotions to not harm myself or others. I am happy to have had this chance and hope to do the Intisar Foundation’s drama therapy programme again.
“Even though I love my children, it was so hard to express my feelings of love because I was overwhelmed with negative emotions. I never noticed these patterns until I started to speak about them in the sessions.”
For more than a month, we are witnessing how international humanitarian law fails to protect Palestinian mothers and children.
Day after day, we have been lamenting and denouncing new acts of violence that brought injustice and the bemoaning loss of innocent lives in Gaza.
And yet, Palestinians in Gaza still face new perils with every next hour.
In writing this letter to the world as a demand for action to end this suffering, I join millions of others who have condemned the continued Israeli aggression and call for an immediate ceasefire.
We at Intisar Foundation also invite you to join us in working on preventing this trauma to linger and gnaw through another generation of Palestinians, and Arabs in general.
The mission of Intisar Foundation is to bring Peace to the Arab world through the psychological recovery of Arab women traumatised by war and violence, which can result in the women stopping the continued cycle of violence inflicted on or by them.
In this way, our work helps Arab homes traumatised by violence become more Peaceful again.
The ripple effect of this outcome can be that Peace flowcharts from one Arab home to another, from one Arab community to another, reaching and affecting our whole region.
In its very essence, therefore, Intisar Foundation’s work has always been about breaking the chains of trans-generational trauma.
While I salute people around the world confronting this injustice – from the world’s best universities, influencers, civil society activists and organisations, to ordinary people taking to streets and social media to raise their voices for Peace – I am now certain that we will not resolve the Palestinian crisis only with ceasefires, humanitarian aid, or rebuilding their homes and neighbourhoods.
We need to recover and protect the souls of current and future generations of Palestinians, and all Arabs, from this trauma.
To that end, Intisar Foundation is committed to turning this terrible man-made tragedy into a healing woman-led victory for Palestine, for humanity!
Intisar AlSabah
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