The House Committee on Education and the Workforce has opened an investigation into allegations of antisemitism within the American Psychological Association, which represents more than 172,000 researchers, clinical professionals, professors and students. The probe follows complaints from Jewish members and an open letter last February describing what it called insensitivity and hostility toward Jews inside the organization.
The American Psychological Association (APA), which represents more than 172,000 researchers, clinical professionals, professors and students, is under investigation by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce over allegations of antisemitism within the organization.
In a letter sent to APA leadership, Committee Chair Rep. Tim Walberg cited an open letter written last February that, according to the committee, delineated concerns about “insensitivity towards Jews, a lack of concern regarding antisemitism, minimization of aggression towards the Jewish people, and outright hostility and prejudice towards Jews and Jewish heritage.”
The committee’s letter states that Jewish APA members have reported being harassed and ostracized by colleagues within the APA and at APA events because of their Jewish identity, their efforts to speak out against antisemitism and their Zionist beliefs, and that some members said their complaints to the association went unanswered.
According to the Daily Wire’s account of the committee’s letter, the panel pointed to alleged antisemitic statements on APA division listservs, including claims that “Hamas fighters in Gaza … are just protecting civilians” and messages giving “kudos” to Hamas.
The committee also wrote that the APA has “offered educational credits for members to attend conferences where speakers endorsed ‘violence against Jews and Israelis; antisemitic tropes; Holocaust distortion; minimization of Jewish victimization, fear, and grief; and pathologizing of Jewish people’s connection to their indigenous homeland.’” These allegations are drawn from the House committee’s letter, as reported by both the Daily Wire and the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS).
In addition, Jewish advocacy groups have condemned an issue of the APA’s flagship journal, which, according to the committee letter cited by the Daily Wire, “repeatedly labels Israel a ‘settler colonial’ and ‘apartheid’ state, accuses it of ‘genocide,’ and refers to ‘Palestinian freedom fighters,’ language that the letter says distorts history, legitimizes violence, and erases Jewish self-determination.”
The House panel’s letter further alleges that a former APA division president “taught that Zionism is a mental illness,” called to “destroy Zionism,” referred to Israelis as “genocidal f**ks,” and, after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, wrote of Hamas, “how dare you slander the names of our martyrs as terrorists.” JNS reports that the committee accuses the APA of failing to take meaningful action in response to these statements and says that antisemitism in that division has led some members to resign.
The committee also highlighted internal efforts to change existing APA policy on antisemitism. According to the Daily Wire’s summary of the letter, some APA divisions have sought to revise the organization’s 2005/2007 Resolution on Antisemitic and Anti-Jewish Prejudice. In August, these divisions introduced a new business item (NBI) requesting that the APA repeal its adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.
The NBI, as described in the committee letter and reported by the Daily Wire, refers to “weaponized antisemitism,” which it defines as “the strategic and bad faith use of accusations of antisemitism, […] that […] has been used in particular to silence and punish people of color.” The House committee contends that this language makes light of antisemitism experienced by Jewish members.
In its letter, the House committee requested that the APA provide, by early January, documents, communications, publications, programming materials, complaints and records of actions related to antisemitism since Oct. 7, 2023, in order to assess whether legislative changes might be needed. As of this writing, the APA has not publicly responded in detail to the latest congressional letter in the sources reviewed, and the allegations outlined by the committee remain under investigation rather than established findings.
