Understanding evil: a psychoanalytic perspective on the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023

This paper examines the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023, through the lens of several theories of evil. It applies frameworks from Christopher Bollas, Ruth Stein, Sue Grand, Robert J. Lifton, and Aner Govrin to explore the psychological underpinnings of this act of terror. The study employs an interpretative approach to analyze the attacks, considering the perpetrators’ backgrounds and the sociopolitical context. Key concepts explored include Bollas’s ‘killed self’, Stein’s analysis of religious justification for violence, Grand’s ‘malignant dissociative contagion’, Lifton’s theory of totalism, and Govrin’s prototype of evil perception. The paper discusses how these theories illuminate the role of trauma, ideology, and psychological distortion in fostering extreme violence. It also considers the ethical implications of applying psychoanalytic theories to large-scale events and acknowledges the limitations of this approach. The analysis reveals common threads across theories, including the impact of psychological damage, disconnection from empathy, and the interplay of love and hate in acts of evil. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of recognizing suffering on all sides of the conflict while maintaining a clear moral stance against acts of terror. It calls for further interdisciplinary research to inform strategies for conflict resolution and prevention of future atrocities.