Received on
June 3, 2024
Dear Palestine Global Sisters and Brothers,
I am deeply apologetic that I did not find out about this appeal until today. I believe it must have escaped my attention because there are so many "urgent appeals" for funds in my Inbox, but whatever the reason be assured I would not have delayed my response. I am very surprised that no one wrote to me or called me among all my friends and political associates. Whatever the case, I only found out about it this week.
After serious thinking and consulting with my trusted friends I have concluded that I must, indeed, withdraw from participating in the seminar. Were the seminar sponsored only by my colleagues in Psychoactive whom I know, and whom I know to be opposed and actively against the genocidal actions of the Israeli state, perhaps there might be a different conclusion. But I fully agree I cannot participate in an event with any official institution that has not condemned the ongoing crimes against humanity occurring now in Gaza and the West Bank.
In fact, I have declined to speak or contribute to any Israeli institution for many years, at least since the Cast Lead attack on Gaza, that does not take a position on the Occupation and these violent assaults on civilian populations in Gaza, and of course none of these have even approached the scale of destruction and horror of the current attacks.
Be assured that every day since October 7th I have struggled with the horrific pain of witnessing the horror that is being visited upon Gaza; it has been hard to think of anything else.
I should explain that my impulse to make an exception in this case was due to the fact that there is so little international support for the small but not irrelevant Israeli Left opposition to their government’s horrific actions. I felt a pull to show them some solidarity, in the hope that they could become a stronger force for resistance. Some of these individuals have spent a considerable part of their adult lives in working for justice for Palestinians, also in providing care and teaching wherever possible. But in this case they will have to do their best to convey my regret, and the reasons why I cannot give any credibility or legitimacy to the institutions in our field that deny the transgressive, immoral, and illegal acts of violence perpetrated by their government and avoid confronting the acceptance or(more likely) approval of these acts by their own people.
My work, especially on the idea of acknowledging oppression and harming, has been and I hope will continue to be connected with nonviolence, with universal respect for human rights, equality and justice for all, as well as with international law. I understand the importance of your support for the nonviolent efforts of the Palestinian people to struggle for their freedom and dignity against the oppressive Israeli occupation and its transgressive violence. Especially at this moment, I believe these principles are necessary to keep the world from descending into chaos and despair, and I recognize that the violations of law and human rights by my own United States government have contributed greatly to this descent. For this too, I wish to take responsibility and encourage my colleagues to do the same. Indeed, it is all the more important to stand up for these principles in the awareness of how often reference to law and rights have been abused and mouthed by hypocrites such as the officials in my government who have helped to perpetrate the genocide in Gaza. Each of us must do our best to fight against those mystifications as well as the despair and helplessness that afflicts us as we witness this.
Since I was a young adolescent in the civil rights movement in the US I have witnessed the difficulties of holding on to our beliefs and principles in the face of the concerted effort of those in power to discredit, repress and in many cases harm those who resist oppression. Part of their strategy, of course, involves masking and denying the reality of harming. Now, as a therapist involved in personal and collective trauma, I have learned how essential it is for us to break that denial and acknowledge harming; also, how vital it is for people who have been oppressed and violated to receive full acknowledgment and affirmation of their injuries and their demand for redress. These ideas were confirmed and clarified most powerfully by learning from the practice of my late friend Dr. Eyad el Sarraj, who, as you know, was a great proponent of nonviolent resistance and psychology in Gaza. It was also my privilege to support the nonviolent psychosocial organizing of my late friend Ahmed Abu Tawahina.
So today I also want to give you as best I can my acknowledgment for the terrible, almost inconceivable suffering and injustice your people are going through. I know it is not enough. I also want to express my appreciation for your commitment to supporting the boycott as part of the nonviolent movement of the Palestinian people.
Please accept my apology again for my delay in responding and convey my solidarity to all who support the people of Palestine in this moment of great need.
In Solidarity, for Peace and Justice,
Jessica