ABSTRACT
In recent years people have seen a rise in spontaneous outpouring of community grief in the form of letters, flowers, crying, and candlelight vigils as a reaction to violent deaths of public figures or innocent bystanders. Community grief reactions in cases of unpredictable terrorist attacks or large scale disasters are examined through events of the last ten years in Israel. The phenomenon of mass public outpouring of grief is examined by employing the stage model of personal grief, as well as through a cathartic event, leading to reliving and revisiting of personal traumas. The structural approach to trauma is discussed in order to understand the dynamic relationship between external and internal pressures acting on an individual. It is postulated that the grass roots creation of a new visual language of commemoration is a viable alternative to official government commemorative rituals.
