DATE: Sunday, October 26, 1997              TAG: 9710240085

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E8   EDITION: FINAL 
COLUMN: IMPERFECT NAVIGATOR

SOURCE: ALEXANDRIA BERGER

                                            LENGTH:   65 lines

REFLECTIONS ON ISRAEL'S TROUBLES SKETCHED A ``DEPRESSED'' SOCIETY

TO READERS disturbed by my column on Israel: I write neither a political nor travel column. I write about issues involving disabilities, which affect individuals, societies and cultures.

My recent observations about Israel reveal symptoms of a ``depressed'' society.

That country has suffered from 50 years of war, psychological and terrorist strife with Palestinians, and, significantly, the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin by another Jew. The last year has been further clouded by the current government's mixed messages to its people. These continued internal hassles, fused with a daily dose of fear, are reminiscent of the United States in the '60s and '70s.

If you were old enough during this period in our history, you remember exactly where you were when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. You remember the ``endless'' Vietnam War. The daily body count.

During that period, we were, as are Israel's people currently, in the throes of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. The symptoms are the same. Americans tore each other apart. Were you a hawk or a dove? Did you listen to protest music? Become a flower child? Did you ``Tune In, Turn On and Drop Out''? What is old to our psyche is new to the Israelis'.

Thomas Friedman, in a recent political column, wrote ``Terrorism neutralizes the Israeli people.'' Neutralize is another word for dis-able. Assassination of a country's leader, governmental dysfunction, internal and external dissension add up to human overload.

Israel needs friends. True. But supporters should think of themselves as caring relatives instead. Relatives don't look the other way during troubled times.

So when you write a check in support of Israel, your responsibility isn't over. Pick up the phone and let the Israelis know you sense they're depressed or discouraged. That aside from your pocketbook, you'll do whatever it takes to promote peace.

It's not a matter of what sounds ``nice.'' It's a matter of standing up when you're called upon, rather than sitting down, eyes closed to reality. Being able to face a disability with a strong support system is the first step in compensating for loss, equalizing and overcoming it.

Israel's people must survive psychologically intact. To help them do anything less is to place tourism above the most basic human needs. Healing starts by openly acknowledging their feelings, and recognizing signs of distress.

To Valerie Bang, Ocean Springs, Miss., who wrote:

``My husband was diagnosed with Reiter's Syndrome about three years ago. What causes this? What can we expect?''

Reiter's Syndrome is a form of arthritis contracted through two types of infections. The first, seen in young men between 20 and 40, is transmitted sexually from a genital infection known as Chlamydia trachomatis.

The second form, dysenteric, is caused by eating tainted or undercooked foods and is acquired following enteric bacterial infections, primarily due to shigella, salmonella, yersinia and campylobacter. Although less common in women, children and the elderly, it may be on the rise.

A test, the HLA-B27 tissue antigen, can show a genetic predisposition for increased risk after those infections. About 50 percent of patients may experience periodic recurrences over several years. Joint deformity or ankylosis (spontaneous fusing of vertebra) may occur, if the condition is chronic. Only a few people are disabled by this chronic or recurrent illness.

To Martha Sybil Bridges, Port Saint Lucie, Fla.:

Help is on the way. Just hold it, until I find a specialist in your area!

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