Psychologists Call for Justice and Accountability: Confronting the Atrocities against Palestinian Lives

ANGLO AMERICA, 20 Jan 2025

Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence - TRANSCEND Media Service

17 Jan 2025

The Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence welcomes endorsement and dissemination of this statement by the APA, by other APA divisions, and by other organizations.

This is an official statement of the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence, Division 48 of the American Psychological Association, and does not represent the position of the American Psychological Association or any of its other Divisions or subunits.

As 2025 begins, violent conflicts and gross violations of human rights are causing death and displacement on a massive scale, creating humanitarian crises around the world.1 As psychologists, we take seriously the February 2021 policy resolution on “APA, Psychology and Human Rights,” adopted by American Psychological Association’s Council of Representatives, which encourages members of our profession “to support and advocate for populations at risk of human rights violations, including marginalized populations both domestically and globally.”2 This resolution followed a report from the APA Task Force on Human Rights, which included the recommendation that “APA’s advocacy for human rights should extend to international human rights concerns, including in some situations making direct requests or criticisms of foreign governments.”3

Consistent with these advocacy priorities, here we specifically seek to bring heightened attention to and greater engagement with the current unparalleled devastation of Gaza.4 This destruction is a catastrophic escalation of collective violence against the Palestinian people. Most have already endured an immiserating and decades-long unlawful occupation5 and, in the specific case of Gaza, a crippling 17-year blockade.6

Reflecting numerous reports, findings, and recommendations from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights over the past 15 months,7 we call for an immediate, unconditional, and sustained ceasefire; the release of all hostages in Gaza as well as Palestinians subjected to arbitrary detention in Israel; an arms embargo on any further supplying of offensive weapons; the urgent and unfettered provision of humanitarian aid; the timely and dedicated reconstruction of Gaza’s infrastructure, healthcare system, educational facilities, and neighborhoods; and accountability before international judicial bodies for all violations of international law. We believe it is the duty of our profession and the APA — an accredited nongovernmental organization at the UN with a stated commitment to “respect and promote human rights” as a guiding principle8 — to stand, speak, and act in unequivocal support of these goals.

As psychologists based primarily in the United States, we issue this statement keenly aware of the distinctively strong alliance between the U.S. and Israel,9 and the crucial and calamitous role that the U.S. government has played in supporting Israel’s 15-month assault on Gaza. As recently as November 2024, the U.S. cast the sole vote against a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.10 The United States has also continued to provide Israel with billions of dollars of munitions11 — despite compelling evidence that these weapons are being used against civilians in violation of U.S. and international law.12

In August 2024, the APA’s legislative Council of Representatives called for an “immediate, permanent, and comprehensive ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict.”13 That formal resolution acknowledged that “military actions have disrupted access to resources needed to fulfill basic needs and destroyed critical infrastructure, including medical facilities, educational institutions, and cultural centers.” It also highlighted psychological research documenting “the detrimental effects of exposure to violence and conflict on mental health, including increased rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression” and the “significant long-term negative psychosocial outcomes that ripple out to families and communities and persist across generations” that result from armed conflict.

Now five months later, Israel has persisted in its relentless assault on the Palestinian people, and there is an urgent need to reiterate and reinforce the serious concerns raised in that APA resolution. We join the worldwide condemnation of the staggering destruction of Gaza — the result of documented war crimes by Israeli military forces.14 Over 46,000 Palestinians have been killed according to official records, most of them women and children.15 But that figure likely significantly underestimates the actual total when deaths due to indirect violence-related causes are also counted.16 Many times more have suffered serious and life-altering injuries, including a staggering number of children who have required amputation of one or more limbs — often without anesthesia or pain medication.17 Gaza’s health care,18 education,19 and vital water20 systems have all been destroyed. Almost the entire population of Gaza — two million Palestinians — has been displaced at least once.21 Famine is now increasingly widespread,22 and an epidemic of paralytic polio was avoided only through the extraordinary efforts of health and community workers.23

At the same time, we acknowledge that the precipitous escalation of violence in Gaza over the past 15 months has transpired after documented war crimes24 were perpetrated by Hamas and other armed groups inside Israel on October 7, 2023. We deplore the killing of nearly 1,200 Israelis and the taking of almost 250 hostages on that day. We also recognize the pain and hardship of the continuing dislocation of tens of thousands of Israeli citizens from their homes and the deep and lasting trauma experienced by the country, its inhabitants, and members of the Jewish diaspora far beyond Israel’s borders. But these deeply disturbing realities do not justify Israel’s profoundly disproportionate, indiscriminate, and ongoing destruction of Gaza and its people.

Our views are consistent with essential points highlighted in an APA press release issued shortly after the October 7th attacks.25 At that time, APA wrote, “There can be no justification for holding people hostage. There can be no justification for cutting off access to basic necessities, such as electricity, food and medicine.” We fully agree and we call for the immediate release of all hostages in Gaza, where they have been held inhumanely for 15 months,26 and for the release of prisoners unduly held in administrative detention in Israel, where many have been subjected to abuse and torture.27 We also call for Israel to immediately end its ongoing disruption of humanitarian aid to Gaza, a horrific form of collective punishment.28 The same APA press release “deplores the human cost of aggression, including violations of human rights, adverse humanitarian consequences, deep psychological distress, and the loss of dignity and freedom. All individuals deserve to live free of fear and violence so that their mental health and well-being can flourish.” Here too, we agree completely.

We recognize as well that in 2008, the APA’s Council of Representatives adopted a resolution against genocide.29 This resolution emphasizes that organizations like the APA have an important role to play in increasing awareness of the causes of and solutions to genocide, and it notes that psychologists can make unique contributions in the realms of education, research, and counseling. The resolution references the definition of genocide adopted by the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.30 According to that definition, genocide constitutes acts “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.” Among the specific examples provided is “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” The APA resolution also states that “indirect acts of destruction such as…forced starvation are also crimes against humanity” and that genocide causes “psychological devastation,” including “long term intergenerational traumatic effects on whole communities.”

We understand that claims of genocide in the context of Gaza are disturbing and disconcerting. But we believe it is nonetheless our responsibility to bring attention to this issue, in accord with the APA’s guidance to raise awareness about such overwhelming harms. In this regard, we note that highly respected international human rights organizations31 and distinguished genocide scholars across the world (including Israeli Jews)32 have concluded that the essential conditions constituting acts of genocide — including intent33 — do in fact exist in Gaza. We encourage our fellow psychologists, psychologists-in-training, and other readers to review these and other assessments, including the reporting of investigative journalists and research teams.34

As psychologists, we also feel a particular responsibility to speak out against Israel’s assault on Gaza’s healthcare and educational systems. First, as mental health practitioners, we are horrified by the deliberate destruction of healthcare facilities and the targeting of healthcare personnel,35 with hundreds already killed. American healthcare professionals who volunteered in Gaza recently reported that they “witnessed crimes beyond comprehension.”36 Second, as teachers and researchers, we are similarly distraught over the systematic destruction of Gaza’s educational institutions. Nearly all of them have been damaged or destroyed — including every university — and hundreds of educators and scholars have been killed.37 As a result, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian students have lost all opportunity for formal education. UN experts and other scholars have referred to this as scholasticide.38

Given such realities, we reject as wholly unwarranted any claims that voicing these concerns is an expression of antisemitism. We oppose efforts aimed at silencing or prohibiting criticism of Israel39 — or criticism of any other country, including the United States — over its actions and policies. To be clear, we too are distressed by the growing threat posed by the scourge of antisemitism. Our understanding of the term is consistent with the definition provided by the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, a statement endorsed by hundreds of scholars of the Holocaust, Jewish studies, and Middle East studies: “discrimination, prejudice, hostility or violence against Jews as Jews (or Jewish institutions as Jewish).”40

(By contrast, the “definition” adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance has received numerous critical scholarly assessments for conflating criticism of Israel with hostility toward Jews in general.41) We condemn the actions of opportunists who take advantage of the horrors unfolding in Gaza to foment hatred toward Jews in general, and we are concerned that Israel’s 15-month assault has diminished the safety of Jews everywhere.42

However, we are also deeply critical of the political posturing and the crackdowns in response to nonviolent protests by college students and faculty — including Jews — who support Palestinian rights and a ceasefire.43 We fear that this inordinate focus distracts attention from white nationalists and similar groups44 that encourage violence — against Jews, Muslims, Blacks, immigrants, and other communities — in order to prevent the “replacement” of white people.45 Consistent with this concern, recent research has shown that, in the United States, “the epicenter of antisemitic attitudes is young adults on the far right.”46

To conclude, we join with the APA’s Council of Representatives in urging “all actors to prioritize the protection of civilians, to adhere to international humanitarian law, and to engage in meaningful dialogue and negotiation toward just and sustainable resolutions.”47 We are further committed to the preservation of human life, respect for human dignity, and the pursuit of a just peace that provides freedom, security, and equal rights for all in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Israel, and the surrounding region. For us, as the carnage and destruction continue, silence and passivity are unacceptable.

NOTES: 

1 International Rescue Committee. (2024, December 11). 2025 Emergency Watchlist. https://www.rescue.org/sites/default/files/2024-12/CS2405-Watchlist-25-  Report%20Final%20DIGI.pdf; Human Rights Watch. (2024). World Report 2024. https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media_2024/01/World%20Report%202024%20LOWRE   S%20WEBSPREADS_0.pdf

2 American Psychological Association. (2021). APA Resolution on APA, Psychology, and Human Rights.  https://www.apa.org/about/policy/resolution-psychology-human-rights.pdf

3 American Psychological Association, APA Task Force on Human Rights. (2021) Moving Human Rights to the Forefront of Psychology: The Final Report of the APA Task Force on Human Rights. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/report-human-rights.pdf

4 Hill, E., Piper, I., Kelly, M., & Ley, J. (2023, December 23). Israel has waged one of this century’s most destructive wars in Gaza. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2023/israel-war-destruction-gaza-   record-pace/; Frankel, J. (2023, December 21). Israel’s military campaign in Gaza is among the most destructive in history, experts say. PBS News. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/israels- military-campaign-in-gaza-is-among-the-most-destructive-in-history-experts-say Oxfam International. (2024, September 30). More women and children killed in Gaza by Israeli military than any other recent conflict in a single year – Oxfam. https://www.oxfam.org/en/press- releases/more-women-and-children-killed-gaza-israeli-military-any-other-recent-conflict

5 International Court of Justice. (2024, July 19). Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. https://www.icj- cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/186/186-20240719-sum-01-00-en.pdf; Mishra, V. (2024, July 19). Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territory ‘unlawful’: UN world court. UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/07/1152296; Human Rights Watch. (2021). A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution. https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media_2021/04/israel_palestine0421_web_0.pdf;    Amnesty International. (2017, June 7). Israel’s occupation: 50 years of dispossession. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/06/israel-occupation-50-years-of-   dispossession/; see also, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. (2004, November 1). Psychologists’ Response to the Violence in Gaza. https://www.spssi.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=document.viewdocument&ID=3F28EB86AE4CA3BB   2EE025BE0093BF0410D802B9E61A82A26C661829D242D1CE8A419D9A5BFC2C3737450814D3839CB6

6 United Nations. (2018, September 12). Economy and living standards of Gaza ‘eviscerated’ by crippling blockade – UN trade and development report. UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/09/1019162; UNICEF. (June 2022). Gaza Strip: The Humanitarian Impact of 15 Years of the Blockade. https://www.unicef.org/mena/media/18041/file/Factsheet_Gaza_Blockade_2022.pdf.pdf; United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. (2023, September 11). Developments in the Economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. https://unctad.org/system/files/official- document/tdbex74d2_en.pdf

7 United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (December 8, 2023). UN experts urge States to unite for peace and push for ceasefire in Gaza. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/12/un-experts-urge-states-unite-peace-and-    push-ceasefire-gaza; United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (February 23, 2024). Arms exports to Israel must stop immediately: UN experts. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/02/arms-exports-israel-must-stop-immediately-   un-experts; United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (February 23, 2024). A/HRC/55/28: Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc5528-human-rights-situation-   occupied-palestinian-territory-including; United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (July 31, 2024). UN report: Palestinian detainees held arbitrarily and secretly, subjected to torture and mistreatment. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/07/un- report-palestinian-detainees-held-arbitrarily-and-secretly-subjected; United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (October 7, 2024). Press release on the situation in North Gaza. https://www.un.org/unispal/document/the-situation-in-north-gaza-ohchr-07oct24/; United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (December 13, 2024). Gaza: UN committee alarmed by Israel’s blatant disregard for binding international orders. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/12/gaza-un-committee-alarmed-israels-blatant-   disregard-binding-international; United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (January 15, 2025). UN Human Rights Chief relieved by Gaza ceasefire, urges prompt implementation. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/01/un-human-rights-chief- relieved-gaza-ceasefire-urges-prompt-implementation

8 American Psychological Association and American Psychological Association Services, Inc. (February 2024). APA/APASI Strategic Plan. https://www.apa.org/about/apa/strategic-plan/apa- apasi-strategic-plan-2024.pdf

9 U.S. Department of State. (2023, January 30). U.S. Relations with Israel Fact Sheet. https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-israel-2/; Narea, N. (2023, October 13). How the US became Israel’s closest ally. Vox. https://www.vox.com/world-politics/23916266/us-israel- support-ally-gaza-war-aid; U.S. Department of State. (2024, March 31). Report to Congress on Voting Practices in the United Nations for 2023. https://www.state.gov/wp- content/uploads/2024/10/Voting-Practices-of-UN-Members_2023-Report.pdf; U.S. Department of State. (2023, March 31). Report to Congress on Voting Practices in the United Nations for 2022. https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Report-Voting-Practices-of-UN-Members-   2022.pdf; U.S. Department of State. (2022, March 31). Report to Congress on Voting Practices in the United Nations for 2021. https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Report-Voting- Practices-in-the-United-Nations-2021.pdf; U.S. Department of State. (2021, October 26). Report to Congress on Voting Practices in the United Nations for 2020. https://www.state.gov/wp- content/uploads/2021/11/Report-Voting-Practices-in-the-United-Nations-2020.pdf

10 Fassihi, F., Ward, E., & Fuller, T. (2024, November 20). U.S. casts sole vote against Gaza cease-fire resolution. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/world/middleeast/gaza- ceasefire-us-veto.html; Bengali, S. (2024, March 22). A look at the three previous U.N. cease-fire resolutions the U.S. vetoed. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/world/middleeast/us-cease-fire-resolution-vetoes.html

11 Hudson, J. (2024, March 6). U.S. floods arms into Israel despite mounting alarm over war’s conduct. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/06/us-weapons-israel-gaza/; Gritten, D. (2024, September 3). Gaza war: Where does Israel get its weapons? BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68737412; Wong, E. (2025, January 3). State Dept. tells Congress it plans to send $8 billion in arms to Israel. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/03/us/politics/us-weapons-israel.html

12 Semler, S. (2024, August 25). Gaza breakdown: 20 times Israel used US arms in likely war crimes.

Quincy Institute. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-weapons-gaza/; Hauslohner, A., & Birnbaum,

1. 1. (2024, October 30). U.S. inundated with claims that American arms killed Gaza civilians. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/10/30/us-weapons- israel-gaza-civilian-deaths/; Hauslohner, A. (2024, November 21). Senate Democrats force Israel weapons vote, citing Biden inaction. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national- security/2024/11/20/senate-vote-israel-weapons-gaza/; Murphy, B. (January 15, 2025). A year of empty threats and a “smokescreen” policy: How the State Department let Israel get away with horrors in Gaza. ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/biden-blinken-state-department- israel-gaza-human-rights-horrors

13 American Psychological Association. (August 2004). APA Statement Calling for an Immediate, Permanent, and Comprehensive Ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza Conflict. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/statement-global-ceasefire.pdf

14 United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2024, June 19). Thematic Report: Indiscriminate and Disproportionate Attacks During the Conflict in Gaza (October – December 2023). https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/countries/opt/20240619-ohchr- thematic-report-indiscrim-disprop-attacks-gaza-oct-dec2023.pdf; United  Nations. (2024, September 11). Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/262/79/pdf/n2426279.pdf;   Amnesty International. (2024, October 22). Damning evidence of war crimes as Israeli attacks wipe out entire families in Gaza. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/10/damning-evidence-of- war-crimes-as-israeli-attacks-wipe-out-entire-families-in-gaza/; Kubovich, Y. (2024, December 18). ‘No civilians. Everyone’s a terrorist’: IDF soldiers expose arbitrary killings and rampant lawlessness in Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor. Haaretz. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-12-18/ty- article-magazine/.premium/idf-soldiers-expose-arbitrary-killings-and-rampant-lawlessness-in-   gazas-netzarim-corridor/00000193-da7f-de86-a9f3-fefff2e50000; Kingsley, P., Odenheimer, N., Shbair, B., Bergman, R., Ismay, J., Frenkel, S., & Sella, A. (2024, December 26). Israel loosened its rules to bomb Hamas fighters, killing many more civilians. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/26/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-gaza-bombing.html

15 United Nations. (2024, December 16). Gaza death toll passes 45,000 as UN school suffers new deadly strike. UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/12/1158206; United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2024, May 6). Onslaught of violence against women and children in Gaza unacceptable: UN experts. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press- releases/2024/05/onslaught-violence-against-women-and-children-gaza-unacceptable-un-experts

16 Khatib, R., McKee, M., & Yusuf, S. (2024, July 20). Counting the dead in Gaza: difficult but essential. The Lancet, 404(10449), 237-238. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140- 6736(24)01169-3/fulltext; Open letter from American medical professionals who served in Gaza. (2024, October 2). https://static1.squarespace.com/static/66e083452b3cbf4bbd719aa2/t/66fcd717dcb6ac154c9f5fc   2/1727846168616/Biden+letter+20241002.pdf; Mellen, R., Harb, H., Berger, M., Morris, L., & Ledur, J. (2024, October 9). Gaza’s uncounted dead. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2024/israel-gaza-war-death-toll-    uncounted-casualties/; Stamatopoulou-Robbins, S. (2024, October 7). The Human Toll: Indirect Deaths from War in Gaza and the West Bank, October 7, 2023 Forward. Watson Institute for International & Public Affairs (Brown University). https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2023/2024/Costs%20of%20War_   Human%20Toll%20Since%20Oct%207.pdf; Jamaluddine, Z., Abukmail, H., Aly, S., Campbell, O.M.R., & Checchi, F. (2025). Traumatic injury mortality in the Gaza Strip from Oct 7, 2023, to June 30, 2024: a capture–recapture analysis. The Lancet. https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2824%2902678-3

17 UNICEF. (2023, December 21). Facing life in the Gaza Strip with a new disability. https://www.unicef.org/sop/stories/facing-life-gaza-strip-new-disability; Mahfouz, H. F., & Morris,

1. (2024, January 20). A kitchen table amputation without anesthetic in Gaza is one of many. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/20/gaza-healthcare-crisis- amputation-anesthesia/; Yazbek, H., Shbair, B., & Vinograd, C. (2024, June 17). ‘A hellscape’: Dire conditions in Gaza leave a multitude of amputees. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/17/world/europe/gaza-amputation-hospitals.html; Sidhwa,
2. (2024, October 9). 65 doctors, nurses and paramedics: What we saw in Gaza. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/10/09/opinion/gaza-doctor-interviews.html

18 United Nations. (2024, September 11). Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/262/79/pdf/n2426279.pdf; United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2024, December 31). Thematic Report: Attacks on Hospitals During the Escalation of Hostilities in Gaza (7 October 2023 – 30 June 2024). https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/countries/opt/20241231-attacks-    hospitals-gaza-en.pdf; Doctors Without Borders. (2024, November 11). How a year of war has devastated Gaza’s civilian infrastructure. https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/how-year- war-has-devastated-gazas-civilian-infrastructure

19 United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2024, April 18). UN experts deeply concerned over ‘scholasticide’ in Gaza. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press- releases/2024/04/un-experts-deeply-concerned-over-scholasticide-gaza; Save the Children. (2024, April 16). Education under attack in Gaza, with nearly 90% of school buildings damaged or destroyed. https://www.savethechildren.net/blog/education-under-attack-gaza-nearly-90-school- buildings-damaged-or-destroyed; Stack, L., & Shbair, B. (2024, May 6). With schools in ruins, education in Gaza will be hobbled for years. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/06/world/middleeast/gaza-schools-damaged-     destroyed.html

20 Ahmed, A. K. (2023, November 16). Israeli authorities’ cutting of water leading to public health crisis in Gaza. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/11/16/israeli-authorities- cutting-water-leading-public-health-crisis-gaza; United Nations. (2024, August 12). Gaza: Clean water crisis adds to new displacement misery, say aid teams. UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/08/1153066; Oxfam International. (2024, July 18). Water War Crimes: How Israel Weaponized Water in Its Military Campaign in Gaza. https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/621609/bp-water-war-   crimes-180724-en.pdf

21 Human Rights Watch (2024, November 14). “Hopeless, Starving, and Besieged”: Israel’s Forced Displacement of Palestinians in Gaza. https://www.hrw.org/report/2024/11/14/hopeless- starving-and-besieged/israels-forced-displacement-palestinians-gaza; Doctors Without Borders. (2024, July 9). The trauma of repeated displacement in Gaza. https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/trauma-repeated-displacement-gaza; Shurafa, W., & Keath, L. (2024, October 6). A year of fleeing across Gaza. Associated Press. https://apnews.com/a-year-of-fleeing-across-gaza-000001925701d383a5925f8f807f0000

22 United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2024, July 9). UN experts declare famine has spread throughout Gaza strip. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press- releases/2024/07/un-experts-declare-famine-has-spread-throughout-gaza-strip; United Nations. (2024, November 12). Warned of imminent famine in northern Gaza, speakers in Security Council urge immediate ceasefire, sustained aid. https://press.un.org/en/2024/sc15895.doc.htm; Konyndyk, J., & Marks, J. (2024, September 12). Untangling the Reality of Famine in Gaza. Refugees International. https://d3jwam0i5codb7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Gaza- Famine-Report-REVISED.pdf

23 United Nations. (2024, September 13). Gaza: WHO chief hails ‘massive success’ of polio campaign amid tragic reality. UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/09/1154311; United Nations. (2024, November 3). Middle East crisis: Gaza polio vaccine campaign under fire. UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/11/1156451; Roberts, L. (2024, July 22). The virus that causes polio has been found in Gaza. Here’s why that is grim news. Science Insider. https://www.science.org/content/article/virus-causes-polio-has-been-found-gaza-here-s-why-   grim-news

24 United Nations Human Rights Council. (2024, June 14). Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g24/086/64/pdf/g2408664.pdf; Human Rights Watch. (2024, July 17). October 7 crimes against humanity, war crimes by Hamas-led groups. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/07/17/october-7-crimes-against-humanity-war-crimes-hamas-   led-groups

25 American Psychological Association. (2023, October 11). APA warns of psychological impacts of violence in Middle East. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/10/middle-east- violence-statement

26 Amnesty International. (2024, July 12). Israel/ OPT: Hamas and other armed groups must immediately release civilians held hostage in Gaza. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/07/israel-opt-hamas-and-other-armed-groups-   must-immediately-release-civilians-held-hostage-in-gaza/; Bisset, V,, Ledur, J., & Shapiro, L. (2024, December 13). Monitoring the status of hostages still in Gaza after Hamas’s attack. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/hamas-hostages-israel-war-gaza/; United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2024, September 17). UN torture expert calls for immediate release of Israeli hostages after meeting with former hostages and families. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/09/un-torture-expert-calls-immediate- release-israeli-hostages-after-meeting

27 Ziv, H., & Dror, O. B. (April 2024). Medical Ethics and Detention of Gaza Residents Since the Start of the 2023 War. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel. https://www.phr.org.il/wp- content/uploads/2024/04/5954_medical_ethics_Report_Eng.pdf; United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2024, July 31). UN report: Palestinian detainees held arbitrarily and secretly, subjected to torture and mistreatment. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press- releases/2024/07/un-report-palestinian-detainees-held-arbitrarily-and-secretly-subjected;   Abdulrahim, R. (2024, January 23). Stripped, beaten or vanished: Israel’s treatment of Gaza detainees raises alarm. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/23/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-palestinian-    detainees.html; B’Tselem. (August 2024). Welcome to Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps. https://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/publications/202408_welcome_to_hell_eng.pdf;    Valdez, J. (2024, August 9). Video of sexual abuse at Israeli prison is just latest evidence Sde Teiman is a torture site. The Intercept. https://theintercept.com/2024/08/09/israel-prison-sde-teiman- palestinian-abuse-torture/

28 Murphy, B. (2024, September 24). Israel deliberately blocked humanitarian aid to Gaza, two government bodies concluded. Antony Blinken rejected them. ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/gaza-palestine-israel-blocked-humanitarian-aid-blinken;    United Nations. (2024, November 14). Gaza: Israeli war tactics condemned as aid still blocked from reaching north. UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/11/1156946; Refugees International. (2024, March 7). Siege and Starvation: How Israel Obstructs Aid to Gaza. https://d3jwam0i5codb7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Gaza-Report-Mar-2024-   FINAL.pdf; International Rescue Committee. (2024, October 15). IRC calls for the protection of aid workers in Gaza, following the killings of three partner staff in just 24 hours. https://www.rescue.org/press-release/irc-calls-protection-aid-workers-gaza-following-killings-   three-partner-staff-just-24

29 American Psychological Association. (2008). Resolution Against Genocide. https://www.apa.org/international/resources/publications/resolution.pdf

30 United Nations. (1948). Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-  crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Prevention%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%   20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf

31 Amnesty International. (2024, December 5). Amnesty International investigation concludes Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/12/amnesty-international-concludes-israel-is-   committing-genocide-against-palestinians-in-gaza/; Human Rights Watch. (2024, December 19). Israel’s crime of extermination, acts of genocide in Gaza. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/12/19/israels-crime-extermination-acts-genocide-gaza;     Doctors Without Borders. (2024, December 19). Gaza death trap: MSF report exposes Israel’s campaign of total destruction. https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/gaza-death-trap-msf- report-exposes-israels-campaign-total-destruction; see also International Court of Justice. (2023, December 28). Application Instituting Proceedings. https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case- related/192/192-20231228-app-01-00-en.pdf

32 Segal, R. (2023, October 13). A textbook case of genocide. Jewish Currents. https://jewishcurrents.org/a-textbook-case-of-genocide; Goldberg, A. (2024, April 18). Yes, it is genocide. Medium. https://thepalestineproject.medium.com/yes-it-is-genocide-634a07ea27d4; Neier, A. (2024, June 6). Is Israel committing genocide? New York Review of Books. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/06/06/is-israel-committing-genocide-aryeh-neier/; Bartov, O. (2024, August 13). As a former IDF soldier and historian of genocide, I was deeply disturbed by my recent visit to Israel. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/13/israel-gaza-historian-omer-bartov;   Mordechai, L. (2024, December 5). Bearing Witness to the Israel-Gaza War. https://witnessing-the- gaza-war.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Bearing-witness-to-the-Israel-Gaza-War-v6.5.5-5.12.24.pdf

33 Government of the Republic of South Africa. (December 29, 2023). Application instituting proceedings and request for the indication of provisional measures. https://www.icj- cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20231228-app-01-00-en.pdf; Law for Palestine. (2024, January 15). Database of Israeli incitement to genocide. https://law4palestine.org/wp- content/uploads/2024/02/Database-of-Israeli-Incitement-to-Genocide-including-after-ICJ-order-   27th-February-2024-.pdf

34 Forensic Architecture. (2024, October 15). A Spatial Analysis of the Israeli Military’s Conduct in Gaza since October 2023. https://content.forensic-architecture.org/wp- content/uploads/2024/10/FA_A-Spatial-Analysis-of-the-Israeli-militarys-conduct-in-Gaza-since-   October-2023.pdf; Toler, A., Kerr, S., Selia, A., Lajka, A., & Clarke, C. (2024, February 6). What Israeli soldiers’ videos reveal: Cheering destruction and mocking Gazans. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/world/middleeast/israel-idf-soldiers-war-social-media-   video.html; Morris, L., Cahlan, S., Baran, J., & Loveluck, L. (2024, December 3). Revenge, fire and destruction: A year of Israeli soldiers’ videos from Gaza. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2024/israel-videos-war-idf-gaza/

35 United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2024, December 31). Thematic Report: Attacks on Hospitals During the Escalation of Hostilities in Gaza (7 October 2023 – 30 June 2024). https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/countries/opt/20241231- attacks-hospitals-gaza-en.pdf; Asi, Y., Mills, D., Greenough, P.G., et al. (2024). ‘Nowhere and no one is safe’: spatial analysis of damage to critical civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip during the first phase of the Israeli military campaign, 7 October to 22 November 2023. Conflict and Health, 18-24. https://conflictandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13031-024-00580-x; UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2024, June 25). Statement on the killing and arbitrary detention of health workers in Gaza. https://www.un.org/unispal/document/statement-gaza- ohchr-25jun24/; United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2024, October 10). UN commission finds war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israeli attacks on Gaza health facilities and treatment of detainees, hostages. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press- releases/2024/10/un-commission-finds-war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity-israeli-attacks;   UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2025, January 3). Israel’s attacks have devastating impact on Gaza’s hospitals, Türk tells Security Council. ReliefWeb. https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/israels-attacks-have- devastating-impact-gazas-hospitals-turk-tells-security-council

36 Open letter from American medical professionals who served in Gaza. (2024, October 2). https://static1.squarespace.com/static/66e083452b3cbf4bbd719aa2/t/66fcd717dcb6ac154c9f5fc   2/1727846168616/Biden+letter+20241002.pdf

37 UNICEF. (2024, November 8). Regular attacks put Gaza schools-turned-shelters on the “frontlines of war.” https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/regular-attacks-put-gaza-schools-turned-shelters- frontlines-war; Save the Children. (2024, April 16). Education under attack in Gaza, with nearly 90% of school buildings damaged or destroyed. https://www.savethechildren.net/blog/education-under-attack-gaza-nearly-90-school-buildings-damaged-or-destroyed; United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. (2024, October 4). Gaza is one of the most dangerous places in the world to learn and teach – over 400 teachers have died in the war. ReliefWeb. https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/gaza-one-most-dangerous-places-    world-learn-and-teach-over-400-teachers-have-died-war; Stack, L., & Shbair, B. (2024, May 6). With schools in ruins, education in Gaza will be hobbled for years. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/06/world/middleeast/gaza-schools-damaged-     destroyed.html

38 United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2024, April 18). UN experts deeply concerned over ‘scholasticide’ in Gaza. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press- releases/2024/04/un-experts-deeply-concerned-over-scholasticide-gaza; Hajir, B., & Qato, M. (2025). Academia in a time of genocide: Scholasticidal tendencies and continuities. Globalisation, Societies and Education. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14767724.2024.2445855; Desai, C. (2024, February 8). The war in Gaza is wiping out Palestine’s education and knowledge systems. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/the-war-in-gaza-is-wiping-out-palestines-education- and-knowledge-systems-222055

39 Shamsi, H. (2024, January 24). The importance of defending the free speech rights of pro- Palestinian students in Florida. ACLU. https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/defending-free- speech-students-justice-palestine-florida; Hauslohner, A. (2024, May 1). House passes antisemitism bill over complaints from First Amendment advocates. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/01/antisemitism-awarness-act-   campus-protests/; Friedman, L. (2023). Targeting free speech & redefining antisemitism: How pro- Israel actors are using US laws to attack Palestinian activism & solidarity. University of the Pacific Law Review, 54(4), 612-638. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1473&context=uoplawreview;   Lee, M. (2023, November 11). Anti-Defamation League maps Jewish peace rallies with antisemitic attacks. The Intercept. https://theintercept.com/2023/11/11/palestine-israel-protests-ceasefire- antisemitic/; Varkiani, A. M. (2024, January 10). ADL officially admits it counts pro-Palestine activism as antisemitic. The New Republic. https://newrepublic.com/post/177993/adl-abandons-pretense- tracking-antisemitism-honestly-palestine-rallies

40 Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism. (2021). https://jerusalemdeclaration.org

41 See, for example, Gordon, N. (2024). Antisemitism and Zionism: The internal operations of the IHRA definition. Middle East Critique, 33(3), 345-360. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/19436149.2024.2330821; Deckers, J., & Coulter, (2022). What Is wrong with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism? Res Publica, 28, 733–752. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-022-09553-4; Stern, K. (2019, December 13). I drafted the definition of antisemitism. Rightwing Jews are weaponizing it. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/13/antisemitism- executive-order-trump-chilling-effect; Gould, R. R. (2020). The IHRA definition of antisemitism: Defining antisemitism by erasing Palestinians. Political Quarterly, 91(4), 825-831. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-923X.12883; European Legal Support Center and British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. (September 2023). Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom in UK Higher Education: The Adverse Impact of the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism. https://www.brismes.ac.uk/files/documents/Freedom%20of%20Speech%20and%20Academic%20Freedom%20in%20UK%20Higher%20Education-BRISMES-ELSC.pdf; Lerman, A. (2022). Whatever Happened to Antisemitism?: Redefinition and the Myth of the ‘Collective Jew.’ (London: Pluto Press). https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745338774/whatever-happened-to- antisemitism/

42 Feinberg, A. (2020). Homeland violence and diaspora insecurity: An analysis of Israel and American Jewry. Politics and Religion, 13(1), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755048319000099; Saul, I. (2024, March 1). The Zionist case for a ceasefire. Tangle. https://www.readtangle.com/zionist-case-for-ceasefire-gaza-israel-palestine/; Eshman, R. (2024, March 14). Israel’s war is making American Jews unsafe. So why are so many still supporting it? The Forward. https://forward.com/opinion/592598/israel-war-american-jews-antisemitism/; Kahn, A. (2024, October 2). As an American rabbi, Israel’s actions don’t make me feel any safer. Time. https://time.com/7027212/american-rabbi-jewish-safety-essay/

43 ACLED. (2024, May 10). US student pro-Palestine demonstrations remain overwhelmingly peaceful. https://acleddata.com/2024/05/10/us-student-pro-palestine-demonstrations-remain- overwhelmingly-peaceful-acled-brief/; United Nations. (2024, April 30). Gaza protests: UN rights chief flags ‘disproportionate’ police action on US campuses. UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/04/1149181; Ioanes, E., & Narea, N. (2024, May 3). What the backlash to student protests over Gaza is really about. Vox. https://www.vox.com/2024/4/24/24138333/columbia-student-protests-gaza-nyu-divest-faculty;   Wells, D. (2023, October 20). Republicans target visas of student protesters. That violates free speech, experts say. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/20/republican-presidential-candidates-   students-protests-israel-hamas/; Jewish Students Encampment Solidarity Open Letter. (2024). https://docs.google.com/document/d/15x7k0OVkmIY9Pbd-ek52vwFhp24ajlQ1sTqg-   JUKeZM/edit?tab=t.0; Bradley, D., & Shanley, G. (2024, September 12). We looked at dozens of colleges’ new protest policies. Here’s what we found. Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/we-looked-at-dozens-of-colleges-new-protest-policies-heres-   what-we-found

44 Stein, P. (2024, September 9). Leaders of white nationalist platform charged for allegedly inspiring attacks. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national- security/2024/09/09/justice-hate-crimes-white-nationalists/; Burley, S. (2024, December 23). The evidence is clear — antisemitism’s threat comes from the right. Substack. https://safetythroughsolidarity.substack.com/p/the-evidence-is-clear-antisemitisms; Beirich, H. (2021, January 21). Antisemitism Rising Among American Right-Wing Extremists. Institute for National Security Studies. https://www.inss.org.il/publication/antisemitism-rising-among- american-right-wing-extremists/

45 Bauder, D. (2022, May 16). What is ‘great replacement theory’ and how does it fuel racist violence? PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-is-great-replacement-theory-and- how-does-it-fuel-racist-violence; National Immigration Forum. (2021). The ‘Great Replacement’ Theory, Explained. https://immigrationforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Replacement- Theory-Explainer-1122.pdf

46 Hersh, E., & Royden, L. (2023). Antisemitic attitudes across the ideological spectrum. Political Research Quarterly, 76(2), 697-711. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/10659129221111081

47 American Psychological Association. (August 2004). APA Statement Calling for an Immediate, Permanent, and Comprehensive Ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza Conflict. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/statement-global-ceasefire.pdf

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