What is Collective Healing?

Hosted by Kosha Joubert Produced by J'aime Rothbard. When Dorotea Gucciardo returned to Rafah in southern Gaza in November last year, she could barely comprehend the scale of the devastation caused by the Israeli military. "I couldn't recognize a thing. Every building was gone. and not just gone but removed, rubble removed and new roads built. And I remember asking the U.N. representative on the bus that was bringing us in, where are we?...It was as if I was on a completely different continent." In this powerful episode, Gucciardo, who is Director of Development at the Canadian medical solidarity organisation Glia, shares her witness testimony from her third assignment to Gaza since early 2024.  This dialogue is deeply personal, touching on Gucciardo's decision to leave her own newborn daughter behind in Canada to serve in Gaza – spurred by a video of a young Palestinian mother whose month-old baby Mahmoud Fattouh had starved to death due to the Israeli blockade.  But the focus is on the intimate portrait Gucciardo paints of the suffering inflicted on civilians by the Israeli military in response to the October 7, 2023 attacks, and the depth of the relationships that have helped Palestinians survive the staggering destruction. In September, a U.N. commission found that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.. Resilience is, however, only part of the story: The conversation challenges listeners to consider how both notions of Palestinian reclamation and international responsibility are inextricably tied to the quest for justice and collective healing. "I actually struggle with the term resilience…because in many ways I think it can unintentionally suggest that extreme hardships like that which Palestinians are experiencing is something that they're expected to endure," Gucciardo says. Gucciardo invites us to consider instead that the job of resilience should actually fall to people outside of Gaza who can be "resilient in our own solidarity and in our own activism" to ensure their governments work to deliver justice to Palestinians.  This episode provides a searing insight into the struggles aid organisations face in bringing relief to Gaza in the face of the Israeli occupation. It also demonstrates the ingenuity displayed by Glia in supporting Palestianians to reclaim a sense of agency in rebuilding their healthcare system. Listeners will learn more about what collective healing means in the context of an active conflict zone, and gain a deeper appreciation of the significance of international solidarity for civilians in Gaza. Integration Labs 2026 Applications Open: The Pocket Project is offering more than 40 Integration Labs in 2026, each dedicated to exploring and addressing specific dimensions of ancestral and collective trauma. To access a complete list of the Labs and to apply to participate, click here. Further Resources:   Glia Palestinian-Led Team Produces First Fully Local External Fixator in Gaza Using Recycled Plastics, 3D Printing, and Solar Power Doctors Against Genocide Dr Gucciardo quoted by Drop Site News Pocket Project Palestine Trauma Relief Project Integration Labs 2026 About Dorotea Gucciardo:  Dorotea Gucciardo, PhD, is the Director of Development for Glia, a Canadian-based medical solidarity organization. She has been overseeing capacity-building projects in Gaza's healthcare system since 2019. In response to Israel's genocide, she helped the organization bolster support through international medical delegations and she herself has volunteered three times as a team lead since early 2024.  She holds a PhD in History and is currently working on a book about material forms of existence and resistance in Gaza.