Letter of Support for Dr. Lara Sheehi by Jewish Colleagues

To President Marc S. Wrighton and The George Washington University Community,

We, the undersigned Jewish clinical psychologists, psychoanalysts, social workers, psychiatrists, and psychoanalytic scholar allies of Lara Sheehi, PsyD are writing both a statement of solidarity and writing to condemn the specious attacks against Dr.Sheehi, particularly charges of antisemitism, and the harassment against her and her family.

On January 12, 2023, StandWithUs, a right-wing pro-Israel advocacy group, filed a Title VI complaint with the US Department of Education against The George Washington University. Despite the fact that the complaint alleges antisemitism against GWU, all names are redacted save Dr. Sheehi's in order to target, isolate and slander her. As early as 2015, Jewish Voice for Peace specifically criticized StandWithUs, especially highlighting their methods for silencing dissent, which they name as “…filing complaints with the federal government that campuses are ‘hostile environments’ for Jewish students; conflating some Jewish students’ emotional discomfort with targeted harassment; contacting administrators in an effort to have events canceled and speakers disinvited; blacklisting professors; and launching public campaigns around faculty hires.” As Jewish clinicians, we condemn the tactics and very definitions of antisemitism that groups like StandWithUs rely on to slander those who stand up for the rights of Palestinians and other oppressed peoples. It is noteworthy that the US Department of Education—along with many, many Jewish people in the U.S.--has rejected the broad definitions of antisemitism that groups like StandWithUs use to attack anyone who stands up for the humanity of the Palestinian people.

Dr. Sheehi, a faculty member at the George Washington University Professional Psychology Program, is an internationally recognized clinician, scholar, activist, writer and beloved teacher. Her work is on decolonial struggles as well as power, race, class and gender constructs and dynamics within psychoanalysis. Last year saw the release of her award-winning co-authored book with Stephen Sheehi, Psychoanalysis Under Occupation: Theory and Practice in Palestine (Routledge). We cannot overstate how important this groundbreaking book is to our field, both because of how it gives voice to those whose voices have been suppressed and because of its contribution to the expansion of psychoanalytic thinking itself. And we are saying this as Jewish clinicians and scholars who have experienced many times the way our profession silences these voices.

Furthermore, and to attest to how highly she is regarded in the field at large, Dr. Sheehi holds important positions in two of the major psychoanalytic psychology organizations in the U.S. She is President and former Secretary of the Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology (Division 39 of the American Psychological Association) and she is the Chair of the American Psychoanalytic Association's Teachers' Academy. She is on the editorial board of Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society (PCS), a co-editor of Studies in Gender & Sexuality, a contributing editor at Parapraxis, and is on the advisory board to the USA-Palestine Mental Health Network and Psychoanalysis for Pride. 

Dr. Sheehi is just the latest of far too many professors and clinicians to become the victim of these tactics, which dovetail with a wider, programmatic attempt by pro-Israeli lobbies to influence the activities of the Department of Education. Dr. Sheehi has been singled out in this complaint as creating an environment hostile for her Jewish students precisely because she stands in solidarity with Palestine–even though there were no explicitly pro-Palestinian materials on the syllabus in question. As Jewish clinicians, many of whom know Dr. Sheehi’s work well (and some of whom have known her personally for many years), we know that the allegations are entirely specious and intended to harm Dr. Sheehi, both personally and professionally.

 Indeed, this complaint is not about any single instance in Dr. Sheehi’s teaching, nor her syllabus in Fall 2022. Dr. Sheehi has been targeted because of her racial, ethnic, and political identities as well as her positions as a leader in our field. As an Arab woman who writes about Israeli and Palestinian politics and is unapologetically in solidarity with Palestine, Dr. Sheehi has now come under attack. She is not the first clinician or academic in recent years to attract the ire of the right.

 It is important for those who might be unaware to know that these attacks are coordinated, not just by lobbyist groups at the level of government, but also online. This is important to stress: these attacks are organized by a small handful of the most right-wing Zionist organizations that are connected to the Israeli state directly or indirectly. They are then fed to low-level right wing news organizations (like The Washington Free Beacon, which broke this story), and those stories are then disseminated on social media, where they are interacted with largely by fake accounts, fanning flames further. In Dr. Sheehi’s case, this coordinated campaign appears to be following a now all-too familiar playbook, as participants have “doxxed” her, making public her personal information. She and her family members have now received death threats, and her colleagues have been subjected to Islamophobic harassment. We unequivocally condemn threats of violence and any forms of harassment against Dr. Sheehi, her family, or her colleagues. Those of us who are Jewish practitioners in the field of mental health feel a particular obligation to stand up and speak out forcefully in solidarity with Dr. Sheehi and other colleagues who have been so viciously and unfairly attacked.

Criticism of Israel in the name of justice should not be conflated with antisemitism, a practice that hurts everyone. We refuse to allow anyone to use our ethnicity or our values as a blanket political shield to carry out these attacks on Dr. Sheehi. This attack, unfortunately, follows a playbook. We must fight back against these attacks that are designed to malign and harm one of our most beloved and powerful educators and clinicians. 

 We stand with Dr. Sheehi, and urge you to do the same.

Hannah Zeavin, PhD
Judith Butler, PhD
Jacqueline Rose, FBA
Lynne Layton, PhD
Elizabeth Berger, M.D.
Nancy Hollander, PhD
Stephen Portuges, PhD
Jessica Benjamin, PhD
Irwin Z. Hoffman, PhD
Rhonda Factor, PhD
Lynne Zeavin, PsyD 
Donald Moss, MD 
Barbara Eisold, PhD
Susan Gutwill, LICSW
Todd Essig, PhD
Jane Robinwitz, LICSW
Judith Deutsch, MSW
Steven Knoblauch, PhD
Chaim Rochester, MA, PhD Candidate, Pacifica Graduate Institute
Maureen Katz, M.D.
Sophie Mendelsohn, PsyD
Andrew Samuels, DHL
Joseph Gorin, PsyD
Eta Demby, MSW
Lori Helene Rudolph, PhD, LPCC
Rita Karuna Cahn, LCSW
Marjorie Sheer, MSW, LCSW
Stephen Hartman, PhD
David M. Goodman, PhD
Lauren Levine, PhD
Amy Schwartz-Cooney, PhD
Melanie Suchet, PhD
Esther Rapoport, PsyD
Judy Blumenfeld, MA, MFT
Laura Kogel, LCSW
Susan Phillips, PhD
Deborah Hellerstein, PhD
Lisa Master, LCSW
Jade McGleughlin, LICSW
Charla Ruby Malamed, LICSW
Alice Shaw, PhD
Matthew Steinfeld, PhD
Sarah Scheckter, PhD
Erica Burman, Group Analyst
Sharon Greenfield, PsyD
Tania Coiner, PhD
Leah Kramnick, LCSW-R
Carter J. Carter, PhD, LICSW
Bonnie Gitlin, LCSW
Barbara E Schwartz, LMHC
Luise Eichenbaum, LCSW
Danielle Frank, LCSW
Thomas S. Greenspon, PhD
Susie Orbach, PhD
Cheryl Pearlman, LCSW
Amy Edminster, LCSW
Elizabeth Goren, PhD
Sue Grand, PhD
Muriel L Frischer, PhD
Sophia Frydman, PhD
Deborah M Waxenberg, PhD
Donna Bassin, PhD
Emily Schlesinger, LCSW, FIPA
Tony Hellman, LCSW
Sue Einhorn, M.Inst.GA
Isaac Slone, MA
Claire Bacha, PhD
Jack Drescher, MD
Cynthia Colvin, PhD
Nikki N. Sachs, LCSW
Vivian Lubell, LCSW, LMFT
Barbara Kane, PhD
Beckett Warzer, MA
Ezra Feinberg, PsyD
Betsy W Spanbock, LICSW, FIPA
Julie Hyman, LCSW
Rachel Kozlowski, PsyD 
Hannah Schmitt, MA, PsyD candidate 
Daniel Polyak, LP
Hannah Schmitt, MA, PsyD Candidate, Yeshiva University
Jordan Dunn, MA
Scott Pytluk, PhD, ABPP
Hattie Myers, PhD
Brenda Solomon, PhD
Denni Liebowitz, LCSW, FIPA
Emily Seidel, Psy.D.
Janie Riley, MFT
Bruce Weitzman, PsyD, MFT
Roberta Stern, LCSW
Julie Gerhardt, PhD
Herbert Schreier, M.D.
Jonathan House, M.D.
Karra Bikson, PhD, MSW, MA
Marcia G. Black, PhD
Dana J. Schwartz, MFT
Michael W. Roffe, Ph.D.
Allan Pleaner, MFT
Jesse Walker, PsyD
Matt Aibel, LCSW
Jay Frankel, PhD
Moshe Brownstein, LCSW
Seth Brodsky, PhD
Kim Rosenfeld, LCSW
Lawrence Jacobson, PhD
Carol Munter, Licensed Psychoanalyst
Jack Beinashowitz, PhD
James Traub, LCSW
Penny Rubenfine, DSW, LCSW
Adam Weg
Laura Reid, PsyD
Stephen Soldz, PhD
Alina Fox, MSW, LCSW
Sula Malina, LMSW
Mark Mellinger, PhD
Hannah Mittenberg, LCSW 
Daniel Rosengart, PsyD
Antonia Frydman, PhD
Masha Borovikova Armyn, PhD
Ali Shames-Dawson, MTS, PhD
Bonnie Bernstein, PhD
Nitzan Cohen, PhD
Rebecca Stahl, LCSW
Lynne Rubin, PhD
Andy Eig, PhD, ABPP
Janine A. Tiago de Melo, Ph.D, ABBP
Dana Charatan, PsyD
Ania Baumritter, LCSW
Susan Stern, LCSW
Miriam Habib, MSW
Tina Weishaus, CNS, APN
Mary Neznek, M.Ed
Leslie M Goldstein, LCSW-R
Carli Gurholt, PsyD
Lawrence Wetzler, PhD
Jodie Fink, LCSW
Samantha Sarvet, LCSW
Madeline Taylor, PhD, LMFT
Adam Weg, LCSW
Justin Shubert, PhD
Steven Luz-Alterman, PhD
Liem Berman, LICSW
Elizabeth Zoob, LICSW
Carol Bloom, LCSW
Susan Kerman, MD
Alina Sternberg Viola, PsyD
Jules Kerman, MD, PhD
Orna Shachar PsyD, PhD
Victoria Malkin, PhD, LP
Diane Ehrensaft, PhD
Rochelle Towers, MSW
Christina Halsey, PhD
Nancy Feinstein, PhD
Ghislaine Boulanger, PhD
Elliot L. Jurist, PhD
Jamie Daniels, MSW, LICSW, PhD Candidate
Alexa Marrach, PhD 
Joanna Levine, MSW
Natasha Stovall, PhD
Amie Benusen, MA clinical student, New School for Social Research
Stephen Friedman, LCSW
Chloe H. Rovitz, LCSW, LMSW
Amy Joelson, LCSW
Judith Aronson, PhD
Jane Kenner, PhD
Adele Yaron, Psychotherapist, UKCP
Ruth Migler, MA, MSW
Eilon Shomron-Atar, PhD
Amanda Zayde, PsyD
Linda R. Rosenberg, LCSW
Judith Rustin, LCSW
Elizabeth Bernstein, PhD
Liat Tsuman, PhD
Amy Eldridge, PhD
Alan Bass, PhD
Hanna Berleth, PsyD
Robin Cooper, MD
Diane Selinger, PhD
Shuki Cohen, M.Sc., PhD
Robert Cohen PhD
Tina Dobsevage, MD
Nina Thomas, PhD
Madeleine Lourie, LICSW
Tamar Ben-Shaul, PhD
Sonia Kahn, Psy.D., CGP
James Deutsch, MD, PhD 
Tova A. Green, LCSW
Lian Malki-Schubert, MA
Lily Blank, PhD
Rozita Alaluf, MA 
Doris Brothers, PhD
Steven Reisner, PhD
Wendy S Kaiser, LCSW
Linda J Arkin, LCSW
Jane Hirschmann, MSW
Linda Arbus, LCSW
Olivia Mandelbaum, PhD
Ronnie Lesser, PhD
Erica Schoenberg, PhD
David Mark, PhD
Mike Strupp-Levitsky, PhD
Sally Moskowitz, PhD
Alina Fox, MSW, LCSW
Anna Sofen, PsyD
Olivia Carosello, MA, MSW, LCSW
Andrea Peyser, LCSW
Ruby Branson LMSW
Joel Whitebook PhD
Hannah Young, MPsy
Milo Giovannneillo, MSW Candidate, Smith College School for Social Work
Kiyo Kohchi, MSW Candidate, Smith College School for Social WorkAmara Leipzig, MSW Candidate, Smith College School for Social WorkCarolyn Flaster, PsyD
Laura D. Miller, LCSW
Florie Lehrburger, LCSW, BCDCSW
Gillian Goldberg, MSW
Noga Ariel Galor, PhD
Arnona Zahavi, Tel Aviv Institute of Contemporary  Psychoanalysis
Ruchama Marton, MD
Elana Lakh
Joseph Bobrow PhD
Rachel Steindler, MSW
Faryn Hart, MSW ASW
Pam Rosen, MSW
Tova Selene Lipkin Sularz, MSW
Mica Agate-Mays, MSW
Regan Adair, MSW
Helen K. Gediman, PhD
William Gottdiener, PhD, ABPP, FIPA
Claire Basescu, PhD
Judy Roth, PhD
Judith Hanlon, PhD
Kori Bennett, PsyD
Judith Kuppersmith, PhD
Marina Kantarovich Rodriguez, MSW, LICSW
Carla Massey, PhD
Sandra Silverman, LCSW
Julie Bindeman, PsyD
Ofra Bloch, LCSW-R

Myra M. Lawrence, PsyD

Julia L. Pressman, LCSW

Marsha Levy-Warren, PhDPC