ON SHAME AND DIGNITY IN AND AROUND GAZA

We don’t want aid. We want dignity.

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Psychoanalysis is often misunderstood in two ways: a pseudo-leftist view that advocates for abolishing all forms of repression to fully liberate sexuality, and a conservative view that suggests a certain level of repression is necessary to prevent social disintegration and maintain public morality. Jacques Lacan presents a surprising perspective by defining the goal of psychoanalytic treatment in our permissive era as the restoration of a minimum of shame. The true opposition, according to Lacan, is not between free sexuality and repression but between shamelessness and dignity. Lacan's stance holds significant political relevance: protesters often attack the shamelessness of their opponents and demand to be treated with dignity.

This discourse extends beyond shameless populists like Donald Trump. A poignant example occurred when a photograph captured IDF bombs, made by the US, destroying Gaza buildings while US parachutes delivered food and medicine. The tension in this image—where the same country produces bombs and aid—culminated in a tragic event: when a parachuted food package killed a boy. On October 20, 2024, a 3-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by air-dropped aid in Khan Younis, as reported by his relatives amidst the humanitarian crisis caused by the Israeli offensive, which exacerbated severe hunger across Gaza. "We don’t want aid. We want dignity," said Ayyad, the boy’s grandfather. "Enough with the humiliation and insult that we are receiving from the Arabs, not just the Israelis. Those who have no mercy on us — look at our children, our women, our elderly."

Ayyad's plea highlights the humiliation of receiving aid from the air when pressure could be applied on Israel to allow more provisions to reach Gaza on the ground. Typically, provisions are delivered by parachute when an enemy surrounds your units or allies, as seen in 1942 when German forces were surrounded in Stalingrad; however, here the US acts on both sides.