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Section IX Board of Directors Statement in Support of Palestine

This is a statement of the Board of Directors of Psychoanalysis for Social Responsibility (Section IX), a section of the Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology, Division 39 of the American Psychological Association. It does not represent the position of the American Psychological Association or any of its other Divisions or subunits.

Dear Section IX Member, 

We are sending out this statement first and foremost to make contact with you, the membership of Section IX, and to inform you that we, the Board of Directors of Section IX: Psychoanalysis for Social Responsibility, have been in process and struggling together to figure out what it is that we need to say, what it is that would be responsible to say, accurate to say, and heartfelt to say, in this time of grief, pain, outrage, and despair. Because our group is comprised of multiple intersections of social positionalities, this struggle has come with tensions that require us to remain reflective, engaged, and compassionate. Our process is ongoing; this statement is not complete or concluded. 

We are unanimous in our solidarity with the Palestinian liberation struggle and our condemnation of the Zionist ideology that has resulted in the occupation, oppression, and dispossession of the Palestinian people. We unequivocally denounce genocide. Zionist aggression, arising out of the trauma from the Holocaust, World War II, and beyond, has resulted in what amounts to an ongoing and relentless displacement of Jewish people’s own historical traumas onto a people who have no contiguous land, no control over common resources, no access to citizenship rights, no freedom of movement, no right of return, and no organized defense or independent access to arms (an army). For decades under Israeli occupation, countless communities have been displaced and continually forced to remake a home in a land whose shifting borders are violently imposed and policed. These conditions of apartheid, colonization, and genocide can only inevitably result in increasing levels of violence. This is especially true given that all attempts at non-violent efforts by Palestinians and their allies have been met with violent suppression by the state of Israel. In this, we have consensus in our position as one ethical voice/stance of Section IX’s leadership. 

As non-Palestinians, we are not in a position to determine which path to decolonization and liberation is “legitimate.” We do not condone the actions of Hamas that have targeted Israeli civilians. We are challenged to hold the horror, pain, and suffering caused by Hamas while simultaneously acknowledging the horror, pain, and suffering caused by Israel’s occupation and continued attacks on Gaza and the history and context of the Palestinian uprising. As psychoanalytic and dynamic practitioners, we recognize that the horrors that surfaced in the attacks of October 7th cannot be separated from the 75-year history of Palestinian displacement, and thus are inextricably linked to the oppressive regime against which they emerged. The United States is also implicated in this occupation, given the military aid it sends to Israel. Furthermore, deep roots of this conflict are revealed by Israel’s own involvement in the formation of Hamas. See this video clip by The Intercept for more information.

We are clear and firm in our belief that condemning the Zionist ideology is not antisemitic. We are clear that one source of antisemitism is, in fact, Zionist ideology. The above statements reflect just some of the layers that we’ve been sitting with as a group of people holding Muslim, Jewish, Christian, White, Arab, BIPoC, Black American, South African, East Asian, South Asian, Central American, South American, European American, queer, trans, and atheist threads of identity, affiliation, and context.

Section IX’s statement supporting the Palestinian struggle for self-determination and liberation is long overdue, and we are grappling with the question of what prevented us from releasing one sooner. In working together to write this statement over the past week and a half, we have come to recognize that our position as a group will inevitably be read through the context of last week’s attacks by Hamas and the resulting genocidal and imperialist counterattacks that are currently being enacted by the Israeli army and government. We are caught between the impossibility of judging “legitimacy” within the fight for liberation and the awareness that violence leads to violence. We see the polarization being enacted on our listserves, where nonviolence and recognition of the roots of violence are presented as mutually exclusive. We are a collective of socially responsible practitioners who are reckoning with our morality, ethics and responsibility in crafting this statement and encouraging people to learn and engage more fully with the deep roots of this tragedy.  As psychoanalytic activists located in the West, we feel devastated as we watch the horror unfold and are compelled to act; thus we are drawn to think together, bring visibility and truth to the situation, offer support to our communities, and initiate a call for action with this statement.

We realize that we are still processing these happenings, the 75+ years that preceded them, and what continues to and is yet to unfold. In the meantime, we encourage you to be gentle with yourselves and others, to educate yourself and take a stand on this issue, even if it feels new or challenges the dominant paradigm. Recognizing the harmful impact of Zionist ideology and withdrawing your support is not anti-semitism. Committing to anti-Zionism is a powerful way to make the Palestinian struggle visible, shift the discourse to address the roots of the problem, and join a growing movement to build solidarity in ending Islamophobia, anti-semitism, apartheid, and genocide. 

Finally, what we articulate in a collaborative statement may be different from what we might say as individuals, representing only ourselves and our positionalities. We have been and continue to be in a process of navigating the complexity that comes with moving forward together as a group while retaining our capacity to think/feel/remain accountable as individuals. In this, our struggle can perhaps serve as a microcosm of the complex processes and ethical engagements/entanglements that we are all required to navigate on the path toward collective liberation. 

We call for an immediate ceasefire, an end to Israeli apartheid, and we support Palestinian liberation.

Here are some ways to support Palestinian liberation and take action:

  • Call your US representative.
    • Palestinians on the ground are urging us to do all we can. Their number one, urgent demand, is CEASEFIRE NOW. Please take 3 minutes today to call your elected officials in Washington and ask them to support the ceasefire resolution that was introduced yesterday. https://mbl.ms/l_G-It5SM68
  • If you find yourself confused, scared or angered by this statement, we encourage you to educate yourself using Palestinian-centered media. Here is a list of resources to help you in that process:
  • Read a book:
    • Botticelli, S. (2010). The Politics of Identification: Resistance to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine.  In Harris, A. and Botticelli, S. (eds) First Do No Harm: The Paradoxical Encounters of Psychoanalysis, Warmaking, and Resistance.  New York: Routledge, 327-348.
    • Davis, A. (2015). Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement.
    • Hollander, N.C. (2016). Trauma as Ideology:  Accountability in “The Intractable Struggle. Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society (2016), Special Issue on Israel, 21:1, 59- 80.
    • Jewish Voice for Peace. (2017). On Anti-Semitism: Solidarity and the Struggle for Justice.
    • Khalidi, R. (2020). The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine.
    • Khalidi, R.  (1983) Palestinian Identity. New York:  Columbia University Press.  
    • Khalidi, R. (2015). 1948 and After in Palestine: Universal themes?  Critical Inquiry 40(4): 314-331.
    • Khalidi, W. (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Destroyed by Israel in 1948.  Washington: Institute for Palestine Studies.
    • Lamont Hill, M. & Plitnick, M. (2021). Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics.
    • Makdisi, S. (2008) Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation. 
    • Malek, C. and Hoke, M. (2014). Palestine Speaks: Narratives of Life Under Occupation. San Francisco: McSweeny Books.
    • Pappe, I. (2006). The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. 
    • Pappe, I. (2017). The Biggest Prison on Earth.
    • Piterberg, G. (2008) The Returns of Zionism: Myths, Politics and Scholarship in Israel. Paperback.  London: Verso.
    • Salzman, P. and Robinson Divine, D. (2008). Postcolonial Theory and the Arab–Israeli Conflict. New York: Routledge Press.
    • Shavit, A. (2013). My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel.  New York:  Random House.
    • Sheehi, L. & Sheehi, S. (2021). Psychoanalysis under Occupation: Practicing Resistance in Palestine.

Statements by other Palestinian Solidarity Organizations and Newspapers

Ongoing Alternative News Sources

  • Participate in a workshop or program
    • The USA-Palestine Mental Health Network is sponsoring two free six-session reading/discussion groups that may interest you. Centering the voices of Palestinian mental health workers and patients, authors, and USA PalMHN Advisory Council members, Lara and Stephen Sheehi, in their book Psychoanalysis Under Occupation: Practicing Resistance in Palestine, challenge us to reject old paradigms of trauma. If you are interested in participating, please contact Cheryl Qamar qamar@usapalmhn.org or Christine Schmidt schmidt@usapalmhn.org and indicate which cycle you’d like to join. To accommodate different schedules, one cycle will be on Mondays and the other on Sundays on the following dates and times:
      • Cycle I: Mondays November 13 – December 18, 2023, noon-1:30pm ET
      • Cycle II: Sundays February 18 – March 24, 2024, 4-5:30pm ET
      • Cycle III: Sundays February 18 – March 24, 2024, Time TBA this session will be facilitated in Arabic

This is a statement of the Board of Directors of Psychoanalysis for Social Responsibility (Section IX), a section of the Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology, Division 39 of the American Psychological Association. It does not represent the position of the American Psychological Association or any of its other Divisions or subunits.