{"id":292451,"date":"2025-04-14T12:01:53","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T11:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=292451"},"modified":"2025-04-13T11:57:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T10:57:01","slug":"the-american-psychological-association-and-the-weaponization-of-antisemitism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2025\/04\/the-american-psychological-association-and-the-weaponization-of-antisemitism\/","title":{"rendered":"The American Psychological Association and the Weaponization of Antisemitism"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Last week I participated in a panel discussion on the weaponization of antisemitism at the annual conference of the Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology (Division 39 of the American Psychological Association). The views expressed are entirely my own and do not reflect the positions of the other panelists or any other group.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

3 Apr 2025 –<\/em>\u00a0Thank you for this opportunity. I want to use my 15 minutes to describe how the weaponization of antisemitism has impacted the American Psychological Association (APA) \u2014 and our profession more broadly \u2014 since the Hamas-led attacks inside Israel on October 7th, 2023. To be clear, these are my views alone, and I am not representing any group.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll begin with four important points for context. First, those attacks and the hostage-taking on October 7th were war crimes. They were undeniably horrific and traumatizing, deeply affecting Jews and non-Jews around the world.<\/p>\n

Second,\u00a0real antisemitism<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is \u201cdiscrimination, prejudice, hostility or violence against Jews\u00a0as Jews.<\/em>\u201d It is\u00a0dangerous<\/em>, it is\u00a0growing<\/em>,\u00a0and it must be\u00a0condemned\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0combatted<\/em>. But it\u2019s important to emphasize that scholarly research \u2014 such as that by Eitan Hersh and Laura Royden \u2014 shows that while antisemitic attitudes in the United States exist across the political spectrum, they are\u00a0\u201cfar more prevalent on the right\u201d<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0than on the political left. I\u2019ll add that there\u2019s no more obvious evidence of this than the\u00a0white supremacists<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in the current administration in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n

Third, support for Palestinian rights, dignity, and freedom is\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0antisemitic. In my view, to claim otherwise is at best misguided and at worst deceitful. Israel\u2019s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a prototypical\u00a0example<\/a>\u00a0of the latter. But he is\u00a0far<\/em>\u00a0from alone.<\/em><\/p>\n

And fourth, I believe denial, blindness, minimization, or disregard for the\u00a0horrors<\/a>\u00a0that have unfolded in Gaza over the past 17 months is, quite simply, outrageous and indefensible. I\u2019ll add here a finding from a\u00a0Pew Research Center poll<\/a>\u00a0last spring: only 4% of Israeli Jews said that\u00a0Israel\u2019s military response against Hamas in Gaza had gone\u00a0too far<\/em>. Only 4%.<\/p>\n

So, what do I mean by the \u201cweaponization of antisemitism\u201d? I understand it this way: as a psychologically powerful, gaslighting propaganda machine with two complementary narrative engines. One engine takes the State of Israel and dramatically expands it, so it becomes \u201cAll Jews Worldwide.\u201d This profound distortion is\u00a0intentional<\/em>. It is used to claim that condemnation of Israel\u2019s genocidal assault is an attack on\u00a0all Jews<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 and is therefore an unacceptable expression of \u201cantisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this propaganda machine has another task as well: it must simultaneously stifle concerns over Palestinian suffering. So, the\u00a0second<\/em>\u00a0engine works in the\u00a0opposite<\/em>\u00a0direction. It takes all Palestinians and dramatically\u00a0shrinks<\/em>them into Hamas alone. In this way, all Palestinians are dehumanized and presented as caricatured monsters. Through\u00a0this\u00a0<\/em>distortion, they all become supposedly legitimate targets for annihilation. And this enables some people \u2014 far too many people, apparently including some psychologists\u00a0\u2014<\/em>\u00a0to seemingly ignore the unconscionable misery in Gaza. That\u2019s the weaponization of antisemitism.<\/p>\n

This weaponization is dangerous on multiple counts.\u00a0Not only<\/em>\u00a0because it\u2019s quite literally deadly for the victims of Israel\u2019s aggression. And\u00a0not only<\/em>\u00a0because it\u2019s being used as a Trojan Horse to dismantle our institutions of higher learning and other organizations essential to a functioning civil society. And\u00a0not only\u00a0<\/em>because it serves as an excuse for a cruel, inhumane, and racist deportation agenda. It\u2019s also dangerous for\u00a0Jews themselves<\/em>, because it divides the Jewish community and it distracts us from the clear-and-present peril posed by the antisemitism of white\u00a0Christian nationalists<\/a>\u00a0and other\u00a0right-wing extremists<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, key leaders within the APA have, at times, seemingly either embraced or allowed themselves to be muzzled by this weaponization of antisemitism and its accusations. How\u00a0extreme<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>are some of these accusations? As one example, last month, someone who\u2019s apparently considered something of an oracle in a group called \u201cPsychologists Against Antisemitism\u201d\u00a0wrote\u00a0this<\/em><\/a>\u00a0about the APA in the\u00a0Israel National News<\/em>: \u201cSeveral [APA] divisions have specialized in the kind of hot Jew-hatred that once prevailed at German and at other European universities in the Nazi era.\u201d\u00a0If nothing else, I believe outrageousness of this sort should serve as a reminder of the futility of attempting to appease those who seemingly believe there are no Palestinian people, or who view Palestinians as less than human.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s now turn back to the days immediately after the horrific events of October 7th, 2023. On October 11th, the APA issued a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0titled \u201cAPA warns of psychological impacts of violence in Middle East.\u201d The very first sentence\u00a0condemned \u201cin no uncertain terms the recent violent attack by Hamas on Israel.\u201d\u00a0The statement also included this: \u201cThere can be no justification for holding people hostage. There can be no justification for cutting off access to basic necessities, such as electricity, food and medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be clear, before the APA had even released this statement, calls for a genocidal assault had already emerged from Israeli officials. Israel\u2019s minister of defense, for example, had\u00a0publicly stated<\/a>, \u201cI have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed\u2026We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

This form of collective punishment is a\u00a0war crime<\/a>\u00a0according to international humanitarian law and the APA was entirely correct to condemn it. But board members of a then-new group called the \u201cAssociation of Jewish Psychologists\u201d were seemingly outraged by this stance. They issued a \u201crebuttal\u201d on October 16th, accusing APA leaders of being\u00a0\u201cterribly na\u00efve\u201d<\/a>\u00a0in opposing the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. Now 17 months later, and with Gaza utterly destroyed, to the best of my knowledge the group\u2019s leadership has never issued a formal retraction or apology. Instead, they\u2019ve apparently made their earlier statement very hard to find.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the group Psychologists Against Antisemitism, which I mentioned earlier, also seemingly set its sights on the APA\u2019s response following October 7th. The group\u2019s founder and president published an\u00a0op-ed<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0Times of Israel\u00a0<\/em>on October 24th, titled \u201cThe mental health groups pouring salt in the wound of Jewish trauma.\u201d She described the APA as a hotbed of \u201cmisinformation bereft of moral conviction or a commitment to science.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s now fast-forward to just six weeks ago. The same group, Psychologists Against Antisemitism, published an open letter and petition to APA leaders in which they absurdly claimed that antisemitism was \u201csystemic\u201d and \u201cvirulent\u201d within the APA. Unsurprisingly, their claims of antisemitism were linked to criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian rights \u2014 neither of which is intrinsically antisemitic.<\/p>\n

But the propaganda machine that weaponizes these charges of antisemitism doesn\u2019t seem to ever stop running. It\u2019s designed to flatten anyone \u2014 non-Jew\u00a0and Jew alike<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 who stands in its way. Indeed, as I speak, members of Psychologists Against Antisemitism are reportedly developing plans to reach out to the Trump Administration in an effort to compel changes at the APA. If this is true, draw your own conclusions about the moral compass of such an\u00a0alliance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Again, in my view, for the past 17 months the APA\u2019s leadership has repeatedly tried to appease those, including some APA leaders themselves, who seemingly prioritize defending Israel above all else \u2014 at the expense of the Association\u2019s avowed commitment to\u00a0human rights<\/a>. Here are four specific examples.<\/p>\n

Example 1: When some divisions of the APA have sought to issue statements expressing concern over Israel\u2019s devastating assault on Gaza, APA officials have balked. In the case of Division 48, Peace Psychology, with which I am most familiar, APA leaders apparently responded to a\u00a0brief statement<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 now well over a year ago \u2014 by insisting, among other things, for an explanation as to why it\u00a0wasn\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0antisemitic to call for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Example 2: Last August, a group of determined APA Council members overcame resistance from various fronts and brought forward a\u00a0resolution<\/a>\u00a0calling for\u00a0\u201can immediate, permanent, and comprehensive ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict.\u201d To placate certain parties, the resolution included language\u00a0stating that\u00a0it \u201cis not meant to advocate or criticize any of the parties engaged in conflict.\u201d\u00a0Not surprisingly, words like \u201coccupation\u201d and \u201cethnic cleansing\u201d were absent from the resolution. The first person invited to speak during debate on the Council floor was a board member of the Association of Jewish Psychologists \u2014 the very group that had seemingly objected when the APA had condemned the use of collective punishment. She spoke in opposition to the ceasefire resolution. When it passed anyway, it wasn\u2019t long before insinuations about antisemitism predictably emerged. As for the APA\u2019s leadership, the resolution\u2019s passage\u00a0has not spurred<\/a>\u00a0any meaningful\u00a0follow-up advocacy.<\/p>\n

Example 3: An essay about antisemitism by six board members of the Association of Jewish Psychologists was recently published in the\u00a0American Psychologist<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 the APA\u2019s flagship journal \u2014 despite, in my view, a range of\u00a0serious<\/em>\u00a0scholarly shortcomings. I have publicly, but unsuccessfully, called for its retraction, and I\u2019ve written a\u00a0detailed explanation<\/a>\u00a0why. Here I can only summarize some of the significant problems.\u00a0On the very first page<\/em>, the authors frame their entire essay by claiming that\u00a0over half<\/em>\u00a0of all hate-crimes in the United States reflect anti-Jewish bias. This is\u00a0far from true<\/em>: the actual figure is closer to\u00a012%<\/em>. The authors\u00a0also make other assertions of fact without documentation; they use unreliable data and unconfirmed claims linked to \u201cpro-Israel\u201d advocacy groups like the Anti-Defamation League and \u201cStand With Us\u201d; and they fail to accurately represent some findings from other researchers. The article ends with a self-promotional appeal: that the APA should partner with the Association of Jewish Psychologists in combatting antisemitism.<\/p>\n

And Example 4: Today marks three full weeks since almost three-dozen leaders of several APA divisions and affiliated groups wrote to six leaders of the APA, requesting an urgent meeting to discuss the outrageous accusations by Psychologists for Antisemitism of out-of-control Jew-hatred within the APA and within our divisions. Despite two follow-up messages also sent to these APA leaders,\u00a0not a single one<\/em>\u00a0of the six has ever responded\u00a0in any manner whatsoever<\/em>\u00a0to our request. (We\u2019re still waiting.)<\/p>\n

As I draw to a conclusion, I am aware that some in attendance today may wrongly accuse me of being an antisemite or a self-hating Jew. Sadly, I\u2019ve learned that just goes with the territory these days. I have no intention of allowing their efforts to silence me, because I speak in solidarity with those whose circumstances are far more precarious than my own.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll end with this. A generation ago, in my view the APA\u2019s leadership abandoned its commitment to human rights and betrayed the Muslim community by failing to adequately oppose the abuse and torture that characterized the so-called War on Terror. I believe the APA will have made precious little progress in the 23 years since if it now fails to stand up against the false charges that are central to the weaponization of antisemitism. Instead of succumbing to these tactics, the APA should take a strong stand\u00a0against\u00a0real antisemitism<\/em>, while also doing\u00a0much more<\/em>\u00a0to publicly challenge the devastating assault on the Palestinian people today.<\/p>\n

_______________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Roy Eidelson is a member of the <\/em>TRANSCEND Network<\/em><\/a> and was a member of the American Psychological Association for over 25 years, prior to his resignation. He is a clinical psychologist and the president of <\/em>Eidelson Consulting<\/em><\/a>, where he studies, writes about, and consults on the role of psychological issues in political, organizational, and group conflict settings. He is a past president of <\/em>Psychologists for Social Responsibility<\/em><\/a>, former executive director of the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict, and a member of the <\/em>Coalition for an Ethical Psychology<\/em><\/a>. Roy is the author of <\/em>Political Mind Games: How the 1% Manipulate Our Understanding of What\u2019s Happening, What\u2019s Right, and What\u2019s Possible<\/a> and can be reached at <\/em>reidelson@eidelsonconsulting.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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