Creation of Paranoia, Part II
Abstract. This is the final section of an article that explores parallels
between delusions and paranoia suffered by society and by the mentally ill. Motives behind
the creation of paranoia are discussed. Focus is given to creation of paranoia toward the
Jewish people, because this social pathology has infected most of the world for a greater
period of time than any other. Reaction to rejection of ideology is found to be an
important motive for creation of paranoia in society. Other manifestations of social
paranoia, such as the creation of false memories, are also discussed. (Note 1: The article
is written by Dr. Karl Ericson. Dr. Ericson has published articles on the prevention of
mental illness in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology and is available through
contacting IBPP.) (Note 2: The article casts attention on a number of issues
covered by IBPP. These issues include the social construction and politics of
mental illness as a construct, the epistemological vulnerabilities of the constructs of
paranoia and delusion, the shortfalls of logic, the similarities among behavior termed
normal versus pathological, the metaphysical status of mind and of reality, the
psychological and social consequences of being labeled with a psychiatric diagnosis, and
the strengths and weaknesses of positing collective psychological phenomena that mirror
individual ones.) (Note 3: The first section of this article is available in the January
26th issue (Volume 10, No. 3) of IBPP.)
Current Creation of Paranoia Toward the Jews
It's the dawn of a new millennium, but creation of paranoia toward the Jew is still
going strong. Currently there is massive creation of paranoia toward the Jew in the Middle
East.
A classic example of creation of paranoia toward the Jews in modern times was a speech
given by Suha Arafat, wife of Yassir Arafat, to Hillary Clinton on November 11, 1999. In
her speech she said
"For years, our people have been subjected to a daily, intensive use of poison gas
by the Israeli forces, which has led to an increase in cancer and other horrible diseases
among women and children ... Israel has [also] chemically contaminated about 80 percent of
water sources used by Palestinians."
Hatred of Jews is taught in Palestinian schools. For example a 12th-grade text entitled
"The Contemporary History of the Arabs and the World" directs teachers to convey
the following messages to students:
1. Zionism is an example of Nazism, fascism and racism.
2. Zionism endangers Arab society and must be stopped.
3. The Jew's evil behavior causes anti-Semitic persecution.
4. Jews welcome their own persecution because it is profitable.
Hatred of Jews is broadcast on Arab TV. In fact, the Palestinian version of Sesame
Street encouraged children to fight holy war against the Jews (17). This particular show
was discontinued due to threats from the United States to withhold funding from the
Palestinian Authority. However, creation of paranoia by the Palestinian Authority
continues. Kelley, a reporter for USA Today, listened to Palestinian broadcasts
about Israeli atrocities and then investigated them. He wrote how in one broadcast the
breathless correspondent said (18):
"The Israeli criminals have fired missiles into the homes of innocent
Palestinians, Palestinian blood is flowing in the streets! Oh God, God, how can the
criminals kill our innocent children?"
A trip to the town by Mr. Kelley immediately after the report, however, found no
evidence of an attack. According to Kelley (18) the broadcasters explained their motive
for their incitement (creation of paranoia) to him. He wrote that
"They view their work as part of their struggle for a Palestinian homeland."
(This motive is congruent with that of "creation of paranoia as a byproduct of
justification of aggression" described in the first section of this paper.)
In September 2000, Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Palestinian
Authority created paranoia among Palestinian Arabs by spreading the rumor that his visit
was part of an Israeli plot to take control of the Al Aksa Mosque. Attacks of snipers
protected by a human shield of young Palestinians throwing rocks were organized against
the Jews. The young Palestinians provided cover to the gunmen (19). Often these boys
functioned as a rock-throwing shield behind which stood grown men....throwing Molotov
cocktails and firing rifles.
When deaths inevitably result, the Palestinians claim the dead youths as innocent
martyrs, dispatched gloriously to heaven by the Zionist infidel's bullets (20). Often
photographs of the wounded youth are distributed by the press, creating paranoia toward
the Jews throughout the world. Another tactic used by the Palestinian Authority is to take
over civilian homes by force and to shoot from them at Jewish homes. If the Jews
retaliate, this creates paranoia among the civilians as well as the rest of the world
against the Jews. An example of this is the attack on Gilo from civilian houses and from
near a children's orphanage (21) in Beit Jalla. The Israeli newspaper Maariv
reported in October 2000 that
"There is considerable justice in the call for increasingly harsh retaliatory
measures by Israel to stop the continuous shooting at the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo -
but.
massive firing at Bethlehem's Christian suburb [of Beit Jala] is liable to
arouse the Christian world against us. This is exactly what the Palestinians are striving
for..."
The creation of paranoia occurs in the Jewish world as well. The paranoia in the Arab
world has led Jews to constantly live under the threat of war and terrorism. The Jews are
desperate for peace and have a developed a hostile rift between those who believe
territorial concessions to the Arabs will lead to peace and those who believe that
territorial concessions will shift the balance of power toward the Arabs and will result
in war.
One of the territories that Jews disagree about is the Golan Heights. When the Syrians
were in control of the Golan Heights, they used to fire at Jews in the valley below. In
1999, Reform Jewish Leaders published an open letter in which they accused Jews opposed to
giving the Golan Heights to Syria as "voices of hatred and intolerance" and
"enemies of peace" who want to "deprive another generation of normal,
peaceful existence."
Karen McQuillan, a reform Jew, told Israel's Channel 7 that
"Referring to opponents of a withdrawal as 'enemies of peace' or assassins' is
slander. These Reform leaders [who say this] feel very moralistic...but the actual
rhetoric is very destructive."
The creation of paranoia by Jew toward Jew is worse in Israel. There is a lot of such
creation of paranoia by secular Jews to Orthodox Jews and vice versa. One reason for this
is that many Orthodox Jews believe that Israel should hold on to what they consider to be
God given land. Many of the secular Jews view this attitude as an obstacle to peace. Many
of the Orthodox view the ceding of territory as against God's will and a danger to the
security of the state. One result of this was the murder of Yitzhak Rabin by the orthodox
Yigal Amir. Another source of hostility between the two groups results from the Orthodox
Jews wanting Israel to be governed by religious law, while the secular Jews do not want to
have to live according to religious dictates. Whatever the difference of opinion between
secular Jew and Orthodox Jew it does not justify the examples of creation of paranoia
assembled by Aryeh Stav (22) that I have listed below.
1) The secular-Jewish writer Amos Oz described the ultra-orthodox Jews as "armed
groups of gangsters, criminals against humanity, sadists, progromists and murderers."
2) Gideon Samet, the Consul of Israel in Philadelphia called them "The
obscurantist and ugly phenomena of our time."
3) Israel's former minister of education Shulamit Aloni described them as
"bloodsuckers..snakes...suckling from the most darkest urges that the Nazi horror
suckled from. They are greedy, domineering, evil and primitive, immoral, parasitical and
power-hungry."
Ironically by creating paranoia toward Jews Shulamit Aloni is giving in to the same
evil urges as Nazism. A widespread party slogan of the Nazis was "The Jew leech
sucking the country's blood."
The Israeli left even goes as far as to incite Arab hatred toward their Jewish
opponents. The Meretz party in their campaign for Ehud Barak in January 2001 put
advertisements in Arab-language newspapers with pictures of Arabs massacred by Lebanese
Christians which they blamed on Barak's opponent, Ariel Sharon (23).
Creation of Paranoia by the Press
The press creates paranoia toward groups it opposes but generally does so in subtle
ways. This is because the press often attempts to appear objective. One of the ways the
press can appear objective while putting a spin on facts is by omitting crucial facts.
Israel is often vilified in the press for creating Arab refugees, for occupying Arab land
and so on without presentation of Israel's side of the story. For example, Israel was
vilified for its presence in Lebanon by the press which neglected to mention the reason
Israel was there which was in response to the firing of Katyusha rockets from Lebanon into
Israel.
The press also creates paranoia through its choice of words. For example, when Israeli
troops patrolled the border areas of Lebanon the New York Times called them an
"occupying force" while referring to the Syrian occupiers of Lebanon as
"overseers" (24).
Creation of Paranoia by Psychotherapists
In 1692, women accused of witchcraft were burned at the stake in Salem Massachusetts.
In the 1980s, another witchhunt began. Many in the social worker, therapist, conservative
Christian and police communities went through a "Satanic Panic". They believed
that a widespread, underground, secret network of Satanic cults were kidnapping, sexually
and physically abusing children, and murdering them. In the United States and Canada, the
scare reached a peak in the early 1990s. It spread to other English speaking countries
from the U.S. Belief in Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) burst into prominence in North American
in 1980 with the first SRA survivor book Michelle Remembers. It described
horrendous sexual and physical abuse allegedly suffered by the co-author, Michelle Smith,
as a child over a 5-year interval. She described perpetrators as Satanists who felt that
the pain inflicted upon their victims increased their black magical powers. The group also
allegedly engaged in human sacrifice and cannibalism. Michelle was presented as a
documentary and was followed by a number of copy-cat books: "...there has been no
verification of these events, and it has been discovered that the alleged victim was
attending school regularly, and was even photographed for the school yearbook, at a time
when she was supposedly locked in a basement for months" (25).
Memories similar to those of Michelle Smith have surfaced when psychologists use
recovered memory therapy. These psychologists believe that many problems are due to
repressed memories of abuse and that recovery of such memories will lead to the cure of
their patients. According to the False Memory Foundation, these therapists, in their zeal
to recover memories of abuse, actually are creating false memories of abuse. The paranoia
created by recovered memory therapy causes untold pain to the families broken up by them
(26). Despite experiments showing that memories can easily be created (27), recovered
memory therapy continues to be practiced. In addition, overzealous law officers and
therapists have coerced false accusations and confessions of abuse. No one knows how many
of those imprisoned for child abuse are really guilty of it. The accused of two famous
cases of false accusations, the case of Country Walk (28) and the Paul Ingram case (29),
are currently locked up in jail. Frank Fuster, the accused from the Country Walk case, has
been in a Florida prison for the last sixteen years (30).
Social Delusions
When faced with a delusional paranoid and threatening enemy, countries may develop a
complimentary delusion that if they only appease that hostile enemy there will be peace.
Historians and news columnists have also used the term "delusion" to describe
such beliefs. Anthony Rhodes in his book The Vatican in the Age of the Dictators
(31) referred to Neville Chamberlain's beliefs that led him to appease Hitler as a
delusion. Chamberlain believed that if he satisfied Hitler's demands for the Sudetenland,
Hitler would be peaceful and war would be averted. Unfortunately, Chamberlain's delusions
about Hitler's peaceful intentions resulted in his pressuring Czechoslovakia to turn over
their defenses in the Sudetenland to Hitler and the fall of Czechoslovakia to the Nazis.
The fall of Czechoslovakia may in turn have contributed to the conquest of the rest of
Europe by the Nazis. When Chamberlain died, the last words he said were "If only
Hitler hadn't lied to me." Chamberlain had such delusions about Hitler that he though
Hitler was an honest man! Chamberlain could never have carried out his policies if he did
not have the support of the majority of the British people. His delusions were shared on a
massive scale.
Many believe that President Clinton's and Prime Minister Ehud Barak's policies of
unreciprocated concessions toward the Arabs are those of delusional appeasement. News
columnist Charles Krauthammer(32) wrote that
"What is astonishing is that these concessions are entirely unreciprocated, and
without any assent from the Palestinians that they would bring peace. Indeed, the
Palestinians are adamant that they will not."
And that
"There has not been an exercise of diplomacy this irresponsible -- a breathtaking
mix of narcissism and self-delusion -- since Munich 1938."
In addition to concessions, the Israelis armed the Palestinian police despite ongoing
Palestinian violations of the Oslo agreements and ongoing incitement. This delusional, mad
policy has led predictably led to these arms being used against the Jews. In spite of
this, the Israeli government insanely continues to provide financial assistance to the
PLO. The United States does as well.
Why do so many Jews believe that financial assistance and territorial concessions will
make the Arabs peaceful in spite of continuing Arab incitement and violence against the
Jews? Why did Prime Minister Chamberlain and the British have delusions that Hitler was
better than he was? I think the answer in both cases is wishful thinking. Chamberlain
wanted to believe that he could avert war with Hitler. The Jews want to believe that
territorial concessions will avert war with the Arabs, even if the Arabs do not
reciprocate by ending their creation of paranoia.
Why doesn't appeasement lead to peace? Shouldn't satisfying one's opponent's grievances
end the motive to be antagonistic? If the opponent government continues to incite their
population, then there will be no appreciation of the concessions. The situation in Israel
is an excellent example of that. After 7 years of Israeli territorial concessions, the
Palestinian Arabs are more violent and more hostile than they were before the peace
process. Despite generous territorial concessions and generous financial help from Israel
and the United States, they still hate both countries (Figure 2). American mediator Dennis
Ross shortly before his job ended with the inauguration of the Bush administration, told
the Jerusalem Post (33) that the one thing he wished he had done differently was
"to ensure that there isn't incitement that there isn't socialization of
hostility. If there is one thing I wish we had done more effectively, that's it."
Another reason that appeasement does not lead to peace lies in a basic tenet of
behavioral psychology. Rewarding a behavior will lead to more of that behavior. Rewarding
antagonistic behavior with concessions leads to more antagonistic behavior. In the same
interview in which Ross said he regretted ensuring that there was no incitement, he said
"there are clearly some on the Palestinian side who seem to think violence serves
their cause."
What Dennis Ross neglected to say was that as long as the Israelis reward violence with
concessions, and as long as there is no financial penalty, violence does serve the
Palestinian cause.
Senator Connie Mack addressed many of these issues in a speech he made in March 1999 in
which he said
"If the Palestinian leadership fails to abandon incitement of hatred, persecution,
and terrorism, then we are all dreaming - only dreaming. And our President's behavior must
be labeled foolish appeasement. Today, the Israeli people are exhausted by fifty years of
violence against their homes and families - of sending their sons and daughters into the
army -and they dream of a promised peace now. This is our hope and our dream. But we must
not get confused. History is replete with examples of compromises that bring terror and
destroy dreams. In the United States, many people seem to think that if we do not confront
these obstacles to peace, and if we look the other way, then we will be able to come to an
agreement. The reality, however, is just the opposite. If we don't acknowledge the
attitudes and acts of those at the peace table, then the peace process is over already and
we just won't admit it. In other words, the surest way to kill the peace process is to
avoid confrontation, to fear upsetting a belligerent force, and to avoid addressing
incitement, violence, persecution and terrorism. The only way to keep the peace process
alive is to focus on truth, freedom, security and justice. The United States must
demonstrate principled leadership and end the appeasement that perpetuates the cycle of
violence....Now is the time for a return to our principled stand that the only way to
truly attain peace is to support freedom, democracy, and justice and oppose the cycle of
hatred. We must face tyranny and oppression where it exists, condemn it, and stand up for
peace -real peace based on security, freedom and a change of heart."
One way to start facing tyranny is to stop funding it. The United States and Israel
should cut off all financial assistance to the Palestinian authority until all violence
and incitement ceases.
The Role of Psychologists and Historians in Curing Social Delusion
The problems of creation of paranoia and delusion are psychological ones. There may be
an important role to play for psychologists in assisting people to resist the creation of
paranoia and delusion by society. Unfortunately psychologists need to address the creation
of paranoia and delusion by members of the their own community.
Although there are books that discuss history from a psychological perspective such as Prisoners
of Hate (34) and Political Paranoia (3), the knowledge they convey is only
known to a small audience. Historians need to integrate psychology into high school texts
so that the pervasiveness and the destructive role of incitement and delusion in society
are more widely understood.
(Figure 2
)
(See (17) Jihad for Kids
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/english/radio/ram/eng-video/jihad.ram; (18) Kelley, J.
(October 25, 2000). USA Today; (19) Kelley, J. (October 23, 2000). USA Today;
(20) Dreher R. (October 26, 2000). Palestinians cynically exploit children in Arafat's
children's crusade. New York Post; (21) Dan, U. (October 29, 2000). Fighting is too
close for comfort. New York Post; (22) Stav, A. Notes on the dialectics of Israeli
anti-Semitism, http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/2527/press17.htm; (23) Israel's
Channel 7 News, Tuesday, January 9, 2001; (24) Sachs, S. (April 8, 2000) Beirut's unwanted
goal. The New York Times; (25) Authors. (1994). Journal of Psychohistory, 24(4);
(26) Goldstein, E. & Farmer, K. (1992). Confabulations, Creating False Memories,
Destroying Families. Boca Raton, FL.: Upton Books; (27) Loftus E. (1997). Creating
false memories. Scientific American, 277, 70-75; (28) Nathan D. (1993). Revisiting
Country Walk. Issues in Child Abuse Accusations, 5, 1-11; (29) Ofshe, R., &
Watters, E. (1994). Making Monsters, False Memories, Psychotherapy, and Sexual Hysteria.
New York: Charles Scribners; (30) Isaac R, (2000) Janet Reno and Her Record as a So-Called
Champion of Children, Independent Women's Forum, http://www.iwf.org/news/000427.shtml;
(31) Rhodes, A. (1974). The Vatican in the Age of the Dictators. New York, Holt
Rinehart and Winston;(32) Krauthammer, C. (January 12, 2001). Middle East Madness. The
Washington Post, p. A25; (33) Zacharia, J. Ross to Post: Palestinians missed
historic opportunity. The Jerusalem Post, Internet Edition, January 9, 2001;(34)
Beck, A. (1999). Prisoners of Hate: The Cognitive Basis of Anger, Hostility, and
Violence. New York, Harper Collins. (Keywords: Ericson, Paranoia.)