Ideological Meaning Making Among People who Lost Close Relative in Terrorism or War in Gaza Envelope

The loss of a loved one is an unparalleled tragedy for most of those left behind. The mourning process, which starts once the mourners are notified of the death, is a difficult and prolonged experience, with deep, significant, and intensive processes, and its aim is to eventually readapt to life without the deceased (Robin, 1993). Mourning is a holistic process, unique for each person who experiences the significant loss of an object, and is shaped by the unique meaning attributed by the mourner to the loss.

This research is conducted according to the constructivist paradigm, meaning, constructivist theory. According to constructivist theories, reality is subjective and based on the significance attributed by the participants to the phenomenon, that is, there are many realities. A person interprets the reality around him so that he can anticipate similar events in the future and know how to react to them. interpreting reality in this manner is called construction of personal meaning. Through personal construction, a person can develop an identity comprised of a set of values and beliefs organized gradually (Kelly, 1991).

According to the Meaning Making Theory, after a loss of a loved one, the bereaved person experiences a collapse of the familiar narratives and his perceptions about the world are shattered (Gillies, Neimeyer, & Milman, 2015; Neimeyer, 2000). This research focuses on the experience of constructing ideological meaning.

Ideology is defined as the description of the social reality in which a person lives and positions himself (Geoghegan, 2003). In other words, it is all systems of political, religious, and moral belief that a person holds. A review of the literature on this subject shows that most research was conducted in the context of constructing religious and spiritual significance, while very little has been done in the ideological context (Barak, & Leichtentritt, 2015).

This study seeks to examine the experience of constructing ideological meaning among residents of the Gaza Envelope, who have lost a loved one in political circumstances. Since 2000, residents of the Western Negev region have been exposed a continuous barrage of Qassam rockets from the Gaza Strip. Exposure to an ongoing stressful situation may lead to mental despair, which may be expressed as anxiety, fear, and tension, and may even evolve into post-traumatic syndrome (Nuttman- Schwartz, 2009). The basic assumption of this study is that examination is warranted of the experience of bereaved persons who lost their loved ones in political circumstances, and who continue to experience the political reality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the daily threat of rocket fire.

The main research question attempted to understand the process of constructing ideological meaning among family members living in the Gaza Envelope, who lost a close family member in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as it is perceived by them. All interviewees live in the region, which has been experiencing the daily difficulties of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for twenty years. Due to the modest research in the field, a qualitative research method was chosen, which was carried out in the descriptive phenomenological method, to understand the construction of meaning by a person who has experienced loss in political circumstances, and how he constructs his ideological meaning (Holloway, 2005). The data was collected from personal interviews with nine bereaved persons between 2018 and 2019, each of which lasted about an hour and a half. The interviews were based on a semi-structured interview manual, and persons who publicly expressed their process of constructing an ideological meaning via the media, social networks, or public political activity were referred to the study.

The findings were analyzed using a qualitative method, in the descriptive phenomenology approach. Concrete descriptions were collected, which were classified according to patterns capable of describing the experience in conceptually, and had the power to describe “what the experience is” and how all elements come together (Todres, 2005). All data were read in a horizontally, and “meaning units” were divided into main themes. This process was designed for the description and understanding of the experience in the broadest manner.

The findings have raised several main themes. The first theme focuses on the search for ideological meaning, starting from the shattering of perceptions regarding the deceased and the sense of absence as a basis for the search for new meaning. The second theme engages in the ideological dialogue, which is carried out with the ‘other’ as a basis for constructing new meaning. The ideological dialogues were directed mainly to the political arena, the media, and the deceased himself. In the framework of this theme, all interviews discussed commemoration and social activity in which the interviewees were engaged. The last theme focused on life in the shadow of continuous terror. In the framework of this theme, the interviewees spoke about the next generation – the senior citizens spoke about the young generation, and the younger ones spoke about the future generation to come.

The findings were gathered into an interactive model showing that there are gaps in the expectations from the political system and Israeli society, and gaps in perceptions regarding the deceased, which are tied to dialogues with the political arena, with the media and the deceased himself. All of the above lead to a sense of failure among the interviewees, who constantly question the effectiveness of the activism, debating whether or not they should continue their social activism.

This study can raise awareness regarding the power of constructing ideological meaning as a means of coping with traumatic bereavement in political circumstances. Unfortunately, this population is only increasing, and therefore, there is a need to develop a proper response for coping with the disaster they experienced and building personal, familial, and communal strength for the bereaved persons. All this by seizing the opportunity for public conversation and social action.