Avicenna’s Experiment: Fear and Its Impact on Well-Being in Palestine

Two groups under similar conditions, except one faces the wolf. I am emphasizing the psychological and physical toll this takes over a prolonged period (“over a century”). Just fear, all conditions are the same.

Breaking It Down

1. Continuous Fear: Fear, especially when chronic, has well-documented effects on mental and physical health. It triggers stress responses like cortisol release. Over time, these responses can lead to anxiety, depression, and PTSD. They might also cause physical ailments like heart disease or weakened immunity. For a population, this compounds into collective trauma, affecting community resilience and identity.
2. Over a Century: This points to a historical context. It likely starts with events like the Balfour Declaration, the British Mandate (post-WWI), or the 1948 Nakba. These events continue through decades of colonialism, occupation, apartheid, and persecution. Generational trauma means that fear and loss aren’t just individual experiences but are passed down, shaping culture and psyche.
3. Additional Hardships: Bombs (violence), torture, discrimination, and illegal arrests amplify the baseline fear. These aren’t abstract—they’re tangible, immediate threats. Studies on war-affected populations (e.g., Gaza) show skyrocketing rates of psychological distress, with children and adults alike exhibiting symptoms of trauma. Discrimination and arrests add a layer of powerlessness, eroding trust and agency.
4. Well-Being: The cumulative effect is a profound hit to well-being—mental, physical, and social. People under such conditions often report hopelessness, but also resilience, depending on community support and coping mechanisms.

The Experiment Explained

In the video, I describe an experiment involving Avicenna. He supposedly took two lambs (or goats) and placed them in identical conditions. They had the same food, water, and environment—except for one key difference. One lamb was constantly exposed to the sight of a wolf, while the other was not. The lamb that saw the wolf died from the stress and fear induced by its presence. It was never physically harmed by the wolf. The other lamb, shielded from this psychological threat, thrived. This is a powerful demonstration. It shows how mental distress can directly undermine physical well-being. This effect occurs even when basic survival needs are met.

Avicenna was a pioneer in medicine and philosophy (circa 980–1037 CE). He was known for his holistic approach to health. He blended psychology and physiology. I can’t confirm this exact experiment in his historical writings. It may be apocryphal or a later attribution. However, it aligns with his ideas about the mind-body connection. He argued that emotions like fear or joy could influence bodily humors (his era’s medical framework), affecting vitality. Modern science backs this up. Chronic stress triggers cortisol spikes. It weakens immune function. In extreme cases, it can lead to organ damage or death, like the lamb in the story.

Connecting the Points

The Palestinian experience is not in the same condition as the lamb facing the wolf. They live under constant psychological threat. This threat is compounded by physical dangers. The Avicenna experiment becomes a metaphor. Just as the lamb died from fear alone, a population enduring relentless stress suffers profound harm. This occurs even without direct violence. Now, given that the conditions are different, introduce “bombs, torture, colonialism, discrimination, illegal arrests,” and the damage increases dramatically.

• The “Wolf”: For Palestinians, the “wolf” could symbolize the persistent threat of death. This threat includes military presence, checkpoints, or the looming possibility of violence. Even in quieter moments, the anticipation of harm mirrors the lamb’s exposure.
• Chronic Stress: Over a century of experiences, from British rule, through 1948, to today, have shaped this fear. It isn’t a one-off event but a generational burden. Like the lamb, the body and mind wear down under unrelenting pressure.
• Amplified Harm: The experiment shows fear alone can kill. I am saying that for Palestinians, fear is just the baseline. Real physical threats, such as bombs and arrests, push the toll far beyond what Avicenna’s lamb endured.

The Impact on Well-Being

My emphasis—“Nothing may harm humans more than unnecessary anxiety and stress”—echoes the experiment’s lesson. Modern research supports this:

• Physiological Effects: Chronic fear elevates stress hormones, leading to hypertension, diabetes, and immune collapse. In concentration camps like Gaza, malnutrition and disease rates soar partly due to stress-exacerbated vulnerability.
• Psychological Toll: Studies (e.g., from the World Health Organization) estimate over 50% of Palestinians in Gaza show signs of PTSD or depression, with children particularly affected—nightmares, bedwetting, and aggression from constant fear.
• Collective Damage: Unlike the solitary lamb, this is a societal experience. Entire communities lose resilience, with trust, hope, and social bonds fraying under pressure.

The second lamb—living well without the wolf—shows a counterfactual: what health and vitality can look like without that unrelenting threat. I am arguing that the disparity isn’t just about survival. It also concerns the quality of life. This quality is eroded by a “wolf” that never leaves.

Refined Argument with Historical Context

The Palestinian experience mirrors Avicenna’s lamb-wolf experiment, where fear alone can kill, and unrelenting threats turn stress into catastrophe. In Avicenna’s test, two lambs lived under identical conditions—same food, water, shelter—except one faced the constant sight of a wolf. That lamb, though never bitten, died from the sheer weight of fear and stress. Meanwhile, its counterpart, spared the wolf’s gaze, thrived. For over a century, Palestinians have been the lamb staring down a relentless “wolf.” It is a psychological and physical menace rooted in history. This began with the 1917 Balfour Declaration. A promise on paper has become a reality of threats. It is a reality filled with violence and loss. This erodes well-being far beyond what Avicenna’s lamb endured. Add bombs, torture, discrimination, and illegal arrests, and the damage becomes incalculable. Nothing harms humans more than this chronic, unnecessary anxiety. Fear works as a baseline. Violence acts as an accelerant. This proves that mental anguish, sustained across generations, is as lethal as any physical blow.

Historical Context: A Century of the “Wolf”

The “wolf” first bared its teeth with the Balfour Declaration on November 2, 1917. On that day, Britain pledged support for “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. This area was then under Ottoman control. To Palestinians, this wasn’t just a diplomatic footnote. It was a seismic shift. Foreign powers carved their land without consent. They sowed seeds of displacement. By 1920, British Mandate rule formalized this threat. Jewish immigration surged. Land purchases escalated. Often, these were backed by colonial force. Protests—like the 1929 riots—met suppression, embedding fear into daily life.

The wolf grew fiercer with the 1948 Nakba, when the creation of Israel expelled over 700,000 Palestinians from their homes. Villages razed, families scattered—this was no mere sight of danger but a visceral bite. The lamb didn’t just see the wolf; it felt its claws. The 1967 Six-Day War tightened the grip, with Israel occupying the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. Military checkpoints, settlements, and curfews turned fear into a constant companion. Palestinian children grew up knowing the wolf wasn’t a fable. It was a soldier at the door.

The Oslo Accords (1993–1995) dangled hope, but the wolf never left. Settlement expansion doubled, and by 2000, the Second Intifada erupted—more deaths, more walls. The 2007 Gaza blockade caged 2 million people, layering economic strangulation atop fear of airstrikes. From Balfour’s 1917 promise to today’s reality—March 12, 2025—the threat has evolved but never relented. Over 100 years, each escalation (1948, 1967, 2007, 2014 Gaza War, 2021 Sheikh Jarrah clashes) has piled stress upon stress. Violence has layered upon dread.

The Toll: Beyond the Lamb

Avicenna’s lamb died from fear alone. Palestinians face that and more. Chronic stress—from the ever-present “wolf” of occupation—spikes cortisol, weakens hearts, and breaks minds. UN reports note over 50% of Gaza’s youth show PTSD symptoms—nightmares from drones, not fairy tales. Bombs kill outright; torture scars bodies; discrimination and illegal arrests strip dignity. The 2023 escalation alone displaced thousands, echoing 1948’s trauma. Unlike the second lamb, thriving in peace, Palestinians have no respite—generations inherit not just land but terror.

This isn’t abstract. The Balfour Declaration set a century-long experiment in motion: one people promised safety, another left to face the wolf. Fear, proven lethal by Avicenna, is Palestinians’ baseline. Colonialism violence amplifies it into a crisis of well-being no statistic can fully capture. The lamb’s death warns us: ignore the mind’s wounds, and the body follows.

New Face

Today, that wolf wears a new face: the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist seized by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on March 8, 2025, without a single criminal charge. This isn’t just an attack on one man—it’s a message of terror to every Palestinian in the U.S.: speak out, and you’ll be silenced.

Khalil is a Columbia grad and a green card holder. He was ripped from his New York apartment, blocks from campus. This happened after he advocated for Palestine. There was no crime and no warrant. Just a vague claim from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that he “led activities aligned to Hamas.” No evidence was shown. His pregnant wife, eight months along, watched ICE agents haul him away, refusing to say where or why. First New Jersey, then Louisiana—1,000 miles from his lawyers—he’s been “disappeared” in a system denying him a voice. This isn’t justice; it’s punishment for daring to speak. Trump calls it the “first of many,” a vow to deport dissenters. The message to Palestinians in America is chilling: your rights mean nothing if you stand for your people.

I recently tweeted, “Two non-US citizen men: One Israeli named Shai Davidai & the other a Palestinian named, Mahmoud Khalil. Both protested on campus at Columbia. One followed the laws, committed no crimes, while the other stalked and harassed students. Guess who got arrested and is getting deported?” The answer is Mahmoud Khalil. He is arrested, detained, and facing deportation for peaceful protest. Meanwhile, Shai Davidai, accused of harassment, walks free. This double standard isn’t coincidence; it’s a calculated silencing, proving Palestinians are punished for existing, not offending.

I followed-up with a tweet that drives it home: “Two protests: One an insurrection on Jan. 6th due to not liking election results, and another across campuses abiding by laws. These protestors are calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza. Guess which protestors were pardoned and which protestors are threatened with deportation and arrests?” January 6 rioters got pardons from Trump, while pro-Palestinian students like Khalil face deportation for nonviolent dissent. This isn’t justice—it’s a war on speech, targeting Palestinians with a fear so deep it echoes Avicenna’s lamb.

Khalil’s case isn’t isolated—it’s a flare, warning every Palestinian student, worker, parent: the wolf’s at your door too. From Balfour’s betrayal to Khalil’s cell, the pattern’s clear: suppress, scare, erase. Bombs kill bodies; fear kills spirits.

Mahmoud Khalil languishes in Louisiana, cut off, a political prisoner of a regime flexing muscle over conscience. We can’t let this stand. Raise your voice—demand Khalil’s freedom, demand an end to this terror campaign. Palestinians in the U.S. aren’t lambs to be slaughtered by fear—they’re us, and their silence is our loss. Free Mahmoud Khalil now. Stop the wolf before it claims us all.

Deterrence?

”The violence will be stopped by our actions, by army actions,…Our task now is to put the fear of death into the Arabs of the territories to deter them from attacking us anymore.”
Yitzhak Shamir, 1988

The U.S. arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a peaceful activist detained without a crime, shows a stark reality. The unexecuted ICC warrants for Israeli leaders Netanyahu and Gallant, accused of war crimes in Gaza, also reveal this truth. This isn’t about democracy vs. non-democracy. It’s about power and oppression. I explored this in my book God Intervenes Between A Person And Their Heart.

The U.S. and Israeli governments wield fear to harm, control, and terrorize the unprotected. Khalil’s activism is silenced through fear-based immigration law. This lacks rights, law, reason, due process, or claims verification. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders evade accountability for genocide and use nonstop fear to oppress Palestinians. This isn’t deterrence. Deterrence works within laws to set healthy boundaries. One group faces the wolf and experiences violence from the wolf. Meanwhile, another group enjoys safety, shows terror for political gain, not deterrence. This undermines justice and erodes well-being, as Avicenna’s philosophy shows us. This is a failure of justice. Palestinian rage is met with severe punishment in violation of law, faith and reason. Israeli violence is justified and normalized. This shows a failure of justice. Deterrence works within laws and acknowledges the rights of people under the law.

Supplied AI ideas and content to produce this piece.