Jewish Psychologists for Justice Rejects Gesher Community Care’s Attack on APA and Palestine Supporters

To the Leadership of the American Psychological Association:

We are writing to communicate our support for the message sent to various APA listservs by Psychologists for Justice in Palestine prior to the 2026 APA Convention earlier this month. That message invited attendees to wear keffiyehs or Palestinian flag colors in support of Palestinian liberation, encouraged presenters to acknowledge the ongoing genocide, and promoted several Palestine-relevant sessions, including an open meeting. We support the right of professionals to communicate through APA channels in this manner, and we reject the claim by Gesher Community Care, in their open letter to you, that this makes Jewish or Israeli participants unsafe in any way.

We understand and recognize that people from many backgrounds often have strong emotional responses to material posted on listservs, at conferences, and in other professional contexts. But we do not believe this should result in censoring speech, nor do we believe that such censorship makes Jews or anyone else safer. We also reject Gesher Community Care’s claim that any of the aforementioned activities “assign[ed] collective guilt to Jews, erase[d] Jewish history and peoplehood, or impose[d] ideological tests on Jewish participation, or dismiss[ed] Jewish reports of antisemitism.” Indeed, it is because of our Jewish heritage and teachings that we are particularly concerned about efforts to ignore or silence the pain of the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

In fact, the content of the message from Psychologists for Justice in Palestine is consistent with two important resolutions recently passed by APA’s Council of Representatives. First, the APA Resolution on Antisemitism (2026) explicitly names the weaponization of antisemitism, stating that “invocation of accusations to silence legitimate criticism, scholarship, or activism…creates significant adverse consequences for Jews and non-Jews who oppose the state of Israel’s actions and support Palestinian rights.” Second, the APA Policy Statement on Reaffirming APA’s Commitment to Human Rights and Freedom of Expression states that APA “oppose(s) efforts aimed at silencing or punishing non-violent advocacy directed towards safeguarding human life and upholding human dignity and human rights.”

We are aware that Gesher Community Care requires its therapists to endorse the highly controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. This IHRA definition is extensively promoted by the state of Israel and conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism. We are similarly aware that both founders of Gesher Community Care and most members of its mental health advisory board signed onto a letter last year falsely accusing the APA of systemic and virulent antisemitism. Such claims have led to unwarranted government investigations of the Association. We regret that Gesher Community Care is now engaged in yet another misleading and destructive campaign seemingly focused on defending Israel rather than protecting Jewish people, including Jewish psychologists, from antisemitism. Moreover, we have learned that, following inquiries, nearly three dozen organizational endorsements originally listed on the Gesher Community Care letter were deemed invalid and have been removed, thus far, calling into question the validity of remaining endorsements.

As an organization comprised predominantly of Jewish mental health professionals, Jewish Psychologists for Justice is committed to advancing collective liberation while combating real threats to Jewish people. We welcome the opportunity to explore ways in which we can collaborate on our shared goals. 

Sincerely,

The Jewish Psychologists for Justice Organizing Committee