Psychology for human rights
Note: Last week I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion and offer my personal perspective on the weaponization of antisemitism. This session took place as part of the annual conference of the Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology (Division 39 of the American Psychological Association). Below is the full text of my …
Continue reading “The American Psychological Association and the Weaponization of Antisemitism”
An outrageously misleading petition titled “Antisemitism/Anti-Jewish Hate within the American Psychological Association” is now circulating among psychologists and related health professionals. Drafted by leaders of a group that calls itself “Psychologists Against Antisemitism,” the petition is long on accusations and generalizations but shamefully short on clarity and evidence. The petition authors claim that they “have documented …
Upon his return to the White House, Donald Trump wasted no time in issuing a barrage of executive orders advancing his authoritarian assault on vulnerable communities and the U.S. Constitution. Among these orders is one that instructs the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to prepare the naval station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for the …
The statement below was issued in January 2025 by the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence (Division 48 of the American Psychological Association). As the Society’s current president, I am pleased to share it with readers. A PDF version is available online here. Psychologists Call for Justice and Accountability: Confronting the Atrocities Against Palestinian …
Several years ago, I resigned from the American Psychological Association after being a dues-paying member for over a quarter-century. Like others who’ve made this same choice, my resignation reflected an accumulation of both frustration and a sense of alienation. Too often, APA’s leadership seemingly came up short when it was important to challenge government policies …
Continue reading “Why I Support Wendi Williams for APA President-Elect”
It is disappointing and distressing to see that the American Psychologist — the flagship journal of the American Psychological Association (APA) — has published an article[1] titled “The American Psychological Association and Antisemitism: Toward Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.” The authors are six board members of the new “Association of Jewish Psychologists” (AJP): Lenore Walker, Ester Cole, Sarah Friedman, Beth …
Continue reading “A Call for Retraction: The Recent American Psychologist Article on Antisemitism”
The new non-profit “Association of Jewish Psychologists” (AJP) has described its primary purpose as combating antisemitism, and I wholeheartedly support this important commitment to eradicating hate and discrimination. But a closer look at this organization reveals that, despite its broad-brush name, AJP has shown itself equally committed to a specific political ideology, one that’s inconsistent …
Continue reading “My Concerns about the “Association of Jewish Psychologists””
NOTE: This is an update on events I’ve previously described, first HERE and then HERE. On October 7, 2023, over 1,000 Israelis died at the hands of Hamas militants and 200 more were taken hostage. Immediately thereafter, Israel began an unrelenting bombardment and siege of Gaza in a military campaign that’s been condemned—almost universally—as disproportionate and indiscriminate. At …
Continue reading “How Can Peace Psychologists Not Call for a Humanitarian Ceasefire?”
The infamous U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay turns 22 this month. Its ugly history now spans an entire generation. For those who might not remember, on January 11, 2002, General Richard Myers described Guantanamo’s first arrivals as “people that would gnaw hydraulic lines in the back of a C-17 to bring it down” and Secretary …
The shocking numbers of Palestinian civilians, many of them children, subjected to unimaginable horrors in Gaza—death, displacement, disease, starvation, and more—grow larger every day. And yet it seems that urgent calls for a humanitarian ceasefire still can’t be heard inside the headquarters of the American Psychological Association (APA), an organization that for years infamously failed to forcefully oppose the …
Continue reading “Will the American Psychological Association Ever Join the Ceasefire Call?”