Template:Infobox hospital
The Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center, built in 1951, is a public psychiatric hospital in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem, Israel. It is affiliated with the Hadassah Medical Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[1] The hospital is Jerusalem's designated psychiatric hospital for tourists who display mental health disturbances, and is widely known for its research on Jerusalem Syndrome.[2]
The hospital is also known for being established on the intact Palestinian village of Deir Yassin, which was depopulated by Jewish forces in April 1948, one month before the creation of the state of Israel.[3]
Further information: Deir Yassin and Deir Yassin massacre
Part of the village of Deir Yassin within the hospital grounds
The hospital stands on the site of the former Palestinian Arab village of Deir Yassin, where 107[4]villagers were killed on April 9, 1948 by fighters from two militant Zionist groups, the Irgun and the Lehi.[3]
Construction of the mental health facility began in 1951, using the villagers' houses and the village school. It housed a therapeutic community of around 300 patients[5] who spent almost all their time outdoors, and was called the Kfar Shaul Government Work Village for Mental Patients.[6][7][8]
The hospital grounds are closed to the public, including to the refugees and their families.[9]
Jerusalem Syndrome[]
Main article: Jerusalem Syndrome
The hospital is also known for its association with Jerusalem Syndrome, a condition in which the sufferer is gripped by religious delusions, thinking himself Jesus or that he holds the key to world peace. The syndrome was first diagnosed in 1993 by Dr Yair Bar-El, a former director of the hospital, which has become a kind of "holding pen" for sufferers, according to Time.[10][11]The New York Times reports that 50-200 tourists are overwhelmed every year by the religious significance of the city, and are driven mad by it. "For many it is a short trip," the Times notes.[12]
The New York Times reports that 50-200 tourists are affected by such delusions every year. Around half the sufferers are from North America, and usually the U.S., with the rest from Western Europe; half are Jews and half Christians.[11]
See also[]
1948 Palestinian exodus
List of hospitals in Israel
Notes[]
↑For example, as a source for the location, G. Katz 2002.
Kananah, Sharif and Zaytuni, Nihad (1988). Deir Yassinالقرى الفلسطينية المدمرة (Destroyed Palestinian Villages), Birzeit University Press, oclc 29364942 LCCN89-968187
Khalidi, Walid (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies.
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