Our Voice

In just 10 minutes.“Eternal darkness”.357 killed.1,150 wounded.This is not what safety looks like.Condemn the massacre in Lebanon!Object to the bombing and killing!Humans are humans!Silence is a crime

This essay was born out of an ongoing experience of daily, unceasing contact with the human intolerable, and with the edges of what can be contained under the title “human.” It is customary to think of the intolerable as that which, by its very nature, challenges thought and language. What words can be given to … Read more

I formed my political worldview already in my youth—around the Friday table, in the need to confront and separate from my father, who held firm right-wing views.My activism, and my identity as a human rights activist, took shape over the past six years, through a process of becoming an elder—a shift from an individual to … Read more

On March 30th, the psychoanalytic institutes held the webinar: “He Who Guards His Soul Shall Draw Near” – focusing on the violence in the West Bank. The webinar featured members of the Israel Psychoanalytic Society, alongside members of the “Silence is a Crime” forum. The participants: (By clicking on the links, you can read the … Read more

How do we celebrate the Seder when nothing is in order? The title “Festival of Freedom” has never sounded so ironic, at a time when Israel is employing criminal, indiscriminate violence internally and externally—whether actively, through behind-the-scenes encouragement, or through turning a blind eye and blatant abandonment.We invite you to read the alternative Haggadah of … Read more

*Photo: Khirbet Ma’arjam. Duma. 23.3.26 I think of the hundreds of thousands of destroyed, abandoned, shattered homes — in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Iran, Israel, and the West Bank.Inside each home: toys, photo albums, bed sheets still carrying the scent of love, damp towels from the last shower, pots left on the stove, handprints on … Read more

We Are the Pirate: A Call for Responsibility An appeal to the public on behalf of the “Silence is a Crime” forum Thich Nhat Hanh wrote in his poem, “Please Call Me by My True Names”: “I am the 12-year-old girl, refugee on a small boat, who throws herself into the ocean after being raped … Read more

On Thursday, March 26, 2026, we held the first webinar of the “Silence is a Crime” forum, titled: Silence or Resistance During Wartime – The Role of Mental Health Professionals in Anti-War Activism. The seminar featured lectures by Dr. Tuli Flint, a social worker and criminologist, alongside Dan Schachter, a clinical psychologist. Alongside them, we … Read more

On March 23, 2026, the “Silence is a Crime” forum took part in a Peace Partnership webinar, which addressed the burning issue of health, trauma, and treatment during wartime. The “Silence is a Crime” forum was represented by clinical psychologist Lior Biran, who presented a critical perspective on the concept of resilience; resilience as an … Read more

Following a night of rocket strikes on Dimona and Arad that left dozens injured, the immediate public discourse reverted to familiar territory: Were they in a safe room? Did they make it in time? Did they follow the instructions? Within moments, instead of asking how we found ourselves, yet again in this reality, the habitual … Read more

As therapy, welfare, and mental health professionals, we face human complexities, pain, and deep moral dilemmas every day. In days when reality shakes the foundations of our work, our therapeutic presence and commitment to professional ethics are more important and critical than ever. We cannot afford to stand idly by. Out of this understanding, we … Read more

The sequence of holidays currently marked in our region—Nowruz, Eid al-Fitr, Passover, and Easter—falls this year upon ground saturated with pain, beneath a cloud of war that refuses to disperse. Precisely now, these occasions echo voices that have been pushed aside in the shadow of the fighting: the hope for light in Nowruz, the call … Read more

This morning, clinical psychologist Lior Biran, a member of the “Silence is a Crime” forum, was interviewed on GLZ (Army Radio) in response to the growing discourse attempting to normalize the impossible reality in which we live. In response to statements made in the media calling the public “prima donnas” due to the difficulty of … Read more

The interview with psychiatrist Prof. Yoram Yovell on Channel 12 News, in which he presented the war as a “deluxe war” and called on the public to stop being “spoiled prima donnas,” has caused us deep concern. The current reality poses immense psychological challenges, yet the dominant discourse on “resilience” in the Israeli mental health … Read more

The month of Ramadan, a month of introspection, compassion, and fasting, arrives this year amidst a bleeding and unbearable reality. It is difficult to wish “Ramadan Kareem” when the heart is so heavy. The sanctity of life is trampled under a deliberate policy of violence and criminal neglect—whether facing the destruction and devastation in the … Read more

A CALL TO ACTION! Mental Health and Welfare Professionals against the Escalating Violence and Neglect of Palestinian Safety When the environment fails continuously, man is forced to organize himself through survival rather than through life  (inspired by Donald Winnicott). We, professionals in the field of Mental Health and Welfare, members of the “Silence is a … Read more

This week, the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs announced that the operating licenses of 37 international aid organizations working in Gaza and the West Bank will be revoked as of January 1, and that these organizations must cease their activities in Gaza and the West Bank by early March. In recent months, Israel has introduced regulatory … Read more

The online journal – ‘Hutzot – A Cultural-Political Journal’, has published a panel discussion featuring several members of the ‘Silence is a Crime’ forum. You are invited to read it by clicking the link.

The bombardments on Gaza in the last 24 hours alone have claimed the lives of 77 civilians and wounded 265. Two of those killed are our colleagues from the mental health field – Dr. Ismail Abu Raqab, Head of the Psychiatric Department at the Ministry of Health in Gaza, was killed along with his wife … Read more

“There are no innocents in Gaza” “There are no innocents in Gaza” is a statement heard from all sides these days, aiming to justify the annihilation of Gaza’s population. To our horror, this annihilation currently includes 19,424 children murdered in Gaza, 5,000 of them under the age of 5, alongside 10,138 women and 4,695 elderly … Read more

We are living in an ongoing extreme reality. Almost two years have passed since the October 7th massacre, the hostages are still in life-threatening danger and indescribable suffering, and the war of annihilation continues to this very moment. In our name, atrocities of starvation, killing, attacks on hospitals, displacement, and destruction are taking place in … Read more

The “Silence is a Crime” forum was created out of the need of mental health and welfare professionals to make their voices heard against what we see as a war of annihilation. We are witnessing the indiscriminate killing of innocents alongside crimes against humanity that Israel is committing in Gaza. Starvation, population displacement, preparation for … Read more

From the silence comes the cry. The cry of those among us for whom the gap between professional ethical codes and their personal conscience—their moral compass—and institutional indifference is a bleeding wound. It is from this place that the “Silence is a Crime” forum was born. Who are we? A group of concerned mental health … Read more

We invite you to watch a conversation between Tulli Flint, Tova Bucksbaum, Merav Klein Asher, and Lior Biran on professional ethics in the difficult times we are living in. Is silence a correct or desirable ethical position for mental health and welfare professionals? Silence is a crime! The video includes subtitles in Hebrew, Arabic, and … Read more