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Moral Crisis in Psychoanalysis: Anti-Israel Hate Allowed in the Profession
In March of 2023, the Executive Committee of the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) decided to disinvite a controversial speaker, Dr. Lara Sheehi, for its summer conference following a civil rights complaint against George Washington University (GWU), where Sheehi stands accused of antisemitism, promoting anti-Israeli hate speech, harassment, and discrimination against her Jewish and Israeli students.
Dr. Dorthy Holmes, Chair of the Holmes Commission for Racial Equality in American Psychoanalysis (HC) and her co-chairs, Drs. Anton Hart, Dionne Powell, and Beverly Stoute, immediately issued a statement condemning APsaA and its then president, Dr. Kerry Sulkowicz, for perpetrating racism and discrimination against Sheehi, who is Lebanese and a person of color. Sulkowicz in turn resigned as president of APsaA and cited antisemitism as a factor.
Although Sheehi has denied being antisemitic, despite evidence to the contrary, she has become a Hamas apologist and sympathizer after the October 7 massacre in Israel. She then left GWU in the lurch with its impending civil rights complaint in front of the US Department of Education after taking a new faculty position in Qatar, the lavish host of Hamas. Dr. Sheehi, who is currently president of the Psychoanalytic Division (39) of the American Psychological Association (APA), has yet to be terminated from her position by the Board of Directors of Division 39 or the APA, despite her support of a terrorist organization. It is incomprehensible how the APA leadership would continue to incorrigibly champion a defender of a terrorist group.
Now that the cat is out of the bag, why do Jewish colleagues, people of color, and any of her contemporaries still support her, knowing full-well that her actions, deception, and denials are simply subterfuge for her anti-Jewish hatred? Some of Sheehi’s friends and colleagues have confided in me that they were duped by her charisma and what they now understand to be lies; however, they have been reluctant to denounce her publicly. How can the Holmes Commission for Racial Equality of the APsaA remain silent about these new-found facts after having unequivocally backed her? Why does the Division 39 Board of the APA not issue a statement condemning her, let alone take the moral imperative to terminate her as president after public outcry and scores of resignations from Jews and members disgusted with the Division’s complicity in promoting antisemitism?
What is most disgraceful are current Division 39 Board members who wrote a letter “on behalf of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel” in support of Sheehi. These are just some of the officers who signed the letter: Secretary Leilani Salvo Crane, Counsel Representative Almas Merchant, Members at Large Carter J. Carter and Elizabeth Clark, Committee Chairs Kori Bennett, Stephen Anen, Romy A. Reading, and Brian Brown. It has become a matter of professional ethics for the Division 39 Board to take a moral stand by deposing their president.
To make matters worse, the Division 39 Board supports a Section of its membership that is openly antisemitic and have proudly espoused anti-Israel/Zionist contempt. The Board of Directors of Section IX: Psychoanalysis for Social Responsibility, which are mainly comprised of social activists, has issued a statement in support of the liberation of Palestine and says that “Zionist ideology” is not legitimate.
This missive says that it is “a statement of the Board of Directors of Psychoanalysis for Social Responsibility (Section IX).” The entire Board includes President Matt LeRoy, Past-President Carter J. Carter, President-Elect Molly Merson, Treasurer Drew Madore, Secretary Sara Blair Jenkins, Section Representative Sodah Minty, Co-Chairs of the Publications Committee Andrea Recarte and Rossanna Echegoyen, and Members-at-Large Tara Lasheen, Brianna Suslovic, Charla Malamed, Diana Shencherey, and Mamta Dadlani. Do they all support this statement? If not, why have they not come out to oppose it?
This public statement flagrantly violates the APA Code of Ethics, yet nothing has been done to sanction these rogue members. The entire Board should be terminated from office, and the Section disbanded for bringing disgrace to the profession.
Sheehi has managed to pull the wool over so many people’s eyes. But what is unfathomable is that more than 240 Jews signed a letter in support of solidarity with Sheehi after she was accused of antisemitic harassment by her Jewish students at GWU — without having any access to the facts. But now that the facts are public, what do these Jewish colleagues have to say for themselves? Do they still stand by this letter?
Jewish psychologists, psychoanalysts, academics, and scholars who signed the letter supporting Sheehi are some of the most respected and revered people in the profession. While you can peruse the complete list of signatories for yourself, I would like to draw your attention to some of the most highly recognized clinicians and influential scholars in the field including: Judith Butler, Andrew Samuels, Susie Orbach, Jessica Benjamin, Alan Bass, Joel Whitebook, Doris Brothers, Stephen Soldz, Steven Reizner, and Irwin Hoffman. Given that Soldz and Reisner were given an award for their activism exposing psychologists’ involvement in torture at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, have they commented on Sheehi and her comments about Hamas’ savagery on October 7?
The question is, will my esteemed colleagues now go on record to denounce their support of someone who condones terrorism? I hope they will do the right thing, as no one should be perennially judged or condemned for holding a previous mistaken belief when new evidence presents itself, especially if they were tricked or feel personally betrayed. This is the time for a new beginning. If they don’t, they should be ashamed of lacking moral courage and bringing dishonor to the profession.
Jon Mills is a Canadian philosopher, psychoanalyst, and psychologist. He is an honorary professor in the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies at the University of Essex and is the author of over 35 books in philosophy, psychoanalysis, psychology, and cultural studies, including most recently, End of the World: Civilization and its Fate. Follow him on X @ProfJonMills
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University of Toronto is granted an injunction to dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment that has been on campus for two months
The University of Toronto has received an injunction to dismantle the pro-Palestinian encampment on its property. The 98-page decision from Justice Markus Koehnen of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice said that members of the encampment must take down the tents within 24 hours, by 6 p.m. on Wednesday, July 3. Toronto Police will have […]
The post University of Toronto is granted an injunction to dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment that has been on campus for two months appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Jewish Cemeteries Vandalized in Cincinnati, Montreal
Vandals in Canada targeted a Jewish cemetery. Photo: Screenshot
Vandals have targeted notable Jewish cemeteries in Cincinnati, Ohio and Montreal, Canada, sparking outcry and concern over mounting threats of antisemitism.
Vandals at Montreal’s Kehal Yisrael Cemetery placed memorial stones in the shape of a Nazi swastika on top of tombstones. Ones with the last names Eichler and Herman were targeted in the antisemitic attack.
Placing memorial stones on graves is an ancient Jewish custom to memorialize the dead. Jewish cemeteries oftentimes have stones nearby tombstones for mourners.
Canadian leaders decried the vandalism.
“It is absolutely abhorrent and revolting to defile the dead with swastikas,” Jeremy Levi, the Jewish mayor of a Jewish-majority suburb of Montreal, commented on X/Twitter. “This desecration at the Kehal Israel cemetery in Montreal is beyond contempt. [Canadian Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau, step aside and get out of the way so we can reclaim our country. May this Kohen’s neshama have an Aliyah on high.” One of the tombstones vandalized belonged to a Kohen.
The leader of the Conservative Party in Canada’s parliament and candidate for prime minister, Pierre Poilievre, lambasted Trudeau and denounced antisemitism. “We cannot close our eyes to the disgusting acts of antisemitism that are happening in our country everyday,” he posted on X/Twitter. “The prime minister must finally act to stop these displays of antisemitism. If he won’t, a common sense Conservative government will.”
Canada, like many countries around the world, has experienced a surge in antisemitic incidents since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’ massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Meanwhile in Cincinnati, vandals targeted two historic Jewish cemeteries this past week, toppling and shattering ancient tombstones — some dating back to the 1800s.
According to a statement from the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, 176 gravesites in Cincinnati’s West Side were ruined “in an act of antisemitic vandalism.”
“Due to the extensive damage and the historical nature of many of the gravestones, we have not yet been able to identify all the families affected by this act,” the statement continued. “Our community [is] heartbroken.”
The Cincinnati Police Department and the FBI are investigating the incidents.
The destruction of monuments is the latest in a greater trend of antisemitic vandalism. In an incident over the weekend, vandals in Australia targeted war memorials dedicated to Australian veterans who sacrificed their lives in Korea and Vietnam with pro-Hamas graffiti.
A couple weeks earlier, vandals in Belgium defaced two memorials for Holocaust victims with swastikas and a phrase calling for violence against Israel. In Germany, meanwhile, at least seven stolpersteine, or stumbling blocks in the sidewalk meant to mark Jewish homes seized by the Nazis, were defaced with the message “Jews are perpetrators.”
The US, Canada, Europe, and Australia have all experienced an explosion of antisemitic incidents in the wake of the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, and amid the ensuing war in Gaza. In many countries, anti-Jewish hate crimes have spiked to record levels.
According to the B’nai Brith, antisemitic incidents in Canada more than doubled in 2023 compared to the prior year.
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UN Launches Probe Into Anti-Israel Rapporteur for Allegedly Accepting Trip Funded by Pro-Hamas Organizations
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, attends a side event during the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
The United Nations has opened an investigation into allegations that its special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories accepted an all-expense paid trip to Australia from various pro-Hamas groups.
In November 2023, Francesca Albanese allegedly traversed around the Australian continent on a trip whose high price tag was covered by anti-Israel organizations, according to documentation acquired by UN Watch, a Geneva-based NGO that monitors the UN.
Albanese initially landed in Sydney and subsequently enjoyed flights into Melbourne, Adelaide, and Canberra, as well as Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand. The glamorous excursion is estimated to have cost a staggering $22,500.
The UN Investigations Division of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) told UN Watch last week that it had alerted the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the allegations of financial impropriety levied at Albanese.
In a letter sent to UN leadership last month, UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer outlined evidence based on multiple sources indicating that Hamas-supporting organizations funded Albanese’s trip to Australia, which has been experiencing an alarming spike in antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October.
Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA), an organization that lobbies Australian politicians on behalf of the pro-Palestinian cause, claimed on its website that it “sponsored Ms. Albanese’s visit to Australia” to speak at its annual Edward Said Memorial Lecture in Adelaide. During the lecture, Albanese thanked AFOPA for “organizing such a busy visit,” in which she met with numerous Australian politicians and foreign ministry officials.
Free Palestine Melbourne (FPM) and Palestinian Christians in Australia (PCIA) both claimed to have “supported her visit to Victoria, ACT [Australian Capital Territory] and NSW [New South Wales].” Both groups also publicly declare that they participate in explicit lobbying of Australian politicians in an attempt to “change their minds” on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
While on her visit, Albanese served as a keynote speaker at a PCIA fundraiser. FPM encourages politicians to endorse the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel on the international stage economically and politically as the first step toward the Jewish state’s eventual elimination.
Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network (APAN) said it was “honored to support” Albanese’s visit. The organization’s president, Nasser Mashni, openly endorses the terrorist group Hamas and has stated that the eradication of Israel is necessary to secure “the liberation of earth.” APAN states that it “facilitated a range of meetings” for Albanese with Australian parliamentarians.
Palestinians in Aotearoa Co-ordinating Committee (PACC) and Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) both organized and likely bankrolled Albanese’s trip to New Zealand, according to UN Watch. At the behest of these groups, Albanese helped lobby a New Zealand sovereign wealth fund to divest from Israel-linked companies.
Albanese outright denied that her trip was funded by Palestinian lobbying organizations, insisting that the UN footed the bill.
“Yet another trail of egregiously false claims agst me,” she tweeted. “My trip to Australia was paid by the UN as part of my mandate’s activities. Continuous defamation agst my mandate may be well remunerated,but won’t work. It just wastes time that should be used to help stop violence in [the Palestinian territories].”
Albanese did not present any documentation confirming that the UN paid for her travel and accommodations. Rather, she pointed at a statement from AFOPA reading, “Ms. Albanese was authorized by the UN to accept AFOPA’s invitation to deliver the Edward Said Memorial Lecture. The UN funded Ms. Albanese’s travel & accommodation costs. No Palestinian Solidarity group paid for this trip.”
Albanese has an extensive history of using her role at the UN to denigrate Israel and seemingly rationalize Hamas’ attacks on the Jewish state.
In April, Albanese issued public support for the pro-Hamas protests and encampments on American university campuses, saying that they gave her “hope.” She has also repeatedly falsely accused the Jewish state of committing “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza and enacting “apartheid” in the West Bank without condemning Hamas’ terrorism against Israelis.
In February, Albanese claimed Israelis were “colonialists” who had “fake identities.” Previously, she defended Palestinians’ “right to resist” Israeli “occupation” at a time when over 1,100 rockets were fired by Gaza terrorists at Israel. Last year, US lawmakers called for the firing of Albanese for what they described as her “outrageous” antisemitic statements, including a 2014 letter in which she claimed America was “subjugated by the Jewish lobby.”
Albanese’s anti-Israel comments have earned her the praise of Hamas officials in the past.
Additionally, in response to French President Emmanuel Macron calling Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel the “largest antisemitic massacre of the 21st century,” Albanese said, “No, Mr. Macron. The victims of Oct. 7 were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression.”
Video footage of the Oct. 7 onslaught showed Palestinian terrorists led by Hamas celebrating the fact that they were murdering Jews.
Nevertheless, Albanese has argued that Israel should make peace with Hamas, saying that it “needs to make peace with Hamas in order to not be threatened by Hamas.”
The UN did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
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