Struggling with the silence

We would like to commend The Psychologist for publishing such a clearly voiced and stunning book review: 'When there are no words, we'd better find some' by Dr Aspa Paltoglou. This is a significant and positive change as it was not long ago that the word 'genocide' was too contentious to be used in a submission on Palestine (Burman, Parker, et al., 2024). Like Dr Aspa Paltoglou we write our letter "furious and screaming" and feeling "sick from genocide". We find it inexplicable how the majority of psychological professions sit either apathetically or instead conceal, subvert, block and distort any narratives calling the genocide for what it is – an indisputable horror being perpetuated by Israel on Palestine.

Like Dr Aspa Paltoglou we, too, recognise the absolute "importance of solidarity". We also note how expressing outrage at the atrocities enacted on Palestine is so regularly subverted by unfounded, unwarranted and grotesque accusations of antisemitism, silencing and leaving many too scared to speak up. This toxic effect is occurring across the whole of our society. Those brave enough to speak up are aggressively crushed by the state apparatus, for example the band Kneecap have described their "silencing of voices of compassion" as "political policing". The band member's charge also contributes to the ongoing distraction of the real story of Israel's war crimes in what they have described as a "carnival of distraction". 

We, in the Leicester Chapter of the Psychologists for Social Change, have been struggling with the silence regarding Palestine we generally meet in psychology settings and have been wondering how to make sense of this. We are reminded of the slogan by an activist collective which grew to become a significant part of the HIV/AIDS campaigns in the 1980s – 'silence = death' – especially in the face of a lack of support or acknowledgment from political leaders and society. We are also reminded how community psychology teaches us that if we are not explicitly demonstrating our values then we are complicit in maintaining the status quo. We feel strongly that we want to meet the horrors unfolding upon the Palestinian people with our "anger brewing" rather than being shocked into silence.  

Inspired by the student protests last year, we recently spoke out about their subjugation on the Psychologists for Social Change website, and are preparing our piece for publication in the newspaper media.  We are troubled by the long history of silence and silencing in psychology and find it to be alive and well today on a range of subjects. It seems it is also alive and well on University campuses with protests being met with unnecessary and brutal arrests and expensive, time consuming legal processes. We would like to invite any readers who feel 'alone', 'helpless', 'despairing' or 'scared' to take action. We have identified a few simple suggestions to do this in relation to the subjugation of student protestors in Leicester.  

Thank you for allowing outrage to be published in your pages. We believe it is essential to social justice. And thank you Dr Paltoglou for breaking the silence.

The Leicester chapter of Psychologists for Social Change