Support our Non-Violent Resistance
Divest from Zionist Academic institutions
Letter sent on
May 8, 2024
Dear Drs. Jessica Benjamin and Roni Srour:
We represent the Palestine-Global Mental Health Network, composed of Palestinian mental health professionals and scholars from historic Palestine and the Diaspora, alongside our partner Networks in Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We write to express our urgent concern regarding your planned participation in an upcoming webinar in Tel Aviv on June 17 at 7:00 PM.
The event’s venue, the Contemporary Institute for Psychoanalysis in Tel Aviv, has not publicly addressed the ongoing war crimes against the Palestinian people, including what has been deemed by the International Court of Justice as a plausible case of genocide in Gaza and the rampant pogroms assisted by the Israeli Occupation Force throughout the rest of Palestine resulting in the killing of nearly 500 adults and nearly 100 children people since October.7th
Over the past six months in Gaza, 34,797 people have been killed by bombs, guns, or starvation, among them 13,800 children and 8,400 women. Twelve universities in Gaza have been destroyed while hundreds of university students, Deans, and scholars—including many colleagues in the field of mental health—have been killed by the Israeli attacks. No one can be blind to these well-documented facts.
The Institute’s silence on these matters contravenes the fundamental ethical principle of "Do no Harm," signaling its complicity in these atrocities.
Palestinian civil society has called for global support of non-violent resistance, notably through the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This initiative seeks to pressure Israeli academic and cultural institutions that are complicit in perpetuating war crimes and the destruction of the lives of Palestinians, who are denied rights recognized in international law.
The vague and generalized title of the meeting you plan to attend avoids irrefutable evidence of sustained violence and human rights abuses, and thus endorses the oppressive status quo.
By participating, you lend legitimacy to the narrative that has justified the oppression, dispossession, and killing of Palestinian men, women and children over the past seventy-five years.
In light of these issues, we urge you to support the BDS movement and realign with the principles of justice and ethical responsibility. We also encourage you to disengage from the Contemporary Institute for Psychoanalysis and refrain from normalizing ongoing conditions.
We ask you to stand with us on the right side of history. Your moral integrity and commitment to justice are crucial. Please do not lend credibility to a narrative that silences the oppressed. We trust in your principled stance and look forward to your supportive response.
Thank you for considering our call to action.
Sincerely,
Palestine-Global Mental Health Network
Australia-Palestine Mental Health Network
Canada-Palestine Mental Health Network
France-Palestine Mental Health Network
Ireland-Palestine Mental Health Network
Germany-Palestine Mental Health Network
Netherlands-Palestine Mental Health Network
South Africa-Palestine Mental Health Network
Sweden-Palestine Mental Health Network
United Kingdom-Palestine Mental Health Network
United State-Palestine Mental Health Network