Mick Hartley

The attribution of mental illness to dissidents was a classic technique of the Stalinist Soviet Union. Now in America – where else? – comes decolonising therapy, targeting the mental illness of Zionism.

From the JC, in April 2025:

In the 1990s, as the Aids epidemic ravaged the LGBTQ community, well-meaning members of the mental-health community tried to erase a core aspect of gay identity through the malpractice of conversion therapy.

Homosexuality had long been removed from the US Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Yet these practitioners attempted to convince the community that they were mentally ill and in need of treatment.

The harm it caused is well-documented. Nevertheless, today, some members of the mental-health community engage in a new form of this pseudoscience that obliterates the Jewish identity and demonises the Jewish people.

The practice is called decolonising (or decolonial) therapy, and it aims to address the psychological impact of colonialism, systemic oppression and historical trauma. It emphasises reclaiming cultural identity, dismantling internalised oppression and healing from colonial violence.

While this framework uses a social-justice framework, it labels Zionism – a key component of the Jewish identity – as a root cause of mental illness, despite its conspicuous absence in the DSM.…

For example, at a professional meeting in November 2024, a presenter delivered a talk on decolonial approaches for a serious psychological disorder to an audience of some 900 mental-health practitioners.

In that talk, the presenter included slides for “the colonised mind” that equated Zionism with genocidal tendencies, misogynoir (hatred toward black women), rape culture, and fascism.

The rot seems to have affected the entire American Psychological Association (APA). From the JC today:

Washington’s investigations into anti-Jewish discrimination continue apace. The House Committee on Education and Workforce is now scrutinising the American Psychological Association (APA), which accredits psychological education.

Committee Chairman Tim Walberg’s letter to APA President Dr. Debra Kawahara noted APA “represents more than 172,000 researchers, clinical professionals, professors, and students across the country,” before summarising the problem: “Jewish APA members have reported being harassed and ostracised by their colleagues within the APA and at APA events because of their Jewish identity, their efforts to speak out again antisemitism, and their Zionist beliefs. Members have also stated that their complaints to the association have gone unanswered.”

Walberg further cited a February 2025 open letter from Psychologists Against Antisemitism to APA leaders raising “serious concerns” about “‘insensitivity towards Jews, a lack of concern regarding antisemitism, minimisation of aggression towards the Jewish people, and outright hostility and prejudice towards Jews and Jewish heritage.’” APA-affiliated newsletters have reportedly included defences of, and praise for, Hamas, and “the APA has offered educational credits for members to attend conferences where speakers endorsed ‘violence against Jews and Israelis; antisemitic tropes; Holocaust distortion; minimisation of Jewish victimisation, fear, and grief; and pathologising of Jewish people’s connection to their indigenous homeland.’” Finally, “APA allegedly failed to take meaningful action against a former APA division president who . . . allegedly taught that Zionism is a mental illness, called to ‘destroy Zionism,’ [and] referred to Israelis as ‘genocidal f**ks.’”

Lovely.