American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama-ASGPP? What they did bad again to deserve boycotting?
Posted on: August 5, 2025
What is meant by “sociometry” of the organization? That can be disrupted?
by Ben Rivers
Call to boycott the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama-ASGPP.
A few days ago, I was invited by the Sociatry and Social Justice Committee of the American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama (ASGPP) to give the keynote address at their symposium in February 2026.
I accepted the invitation in good faith, believing that an organization claiming to center social justice would be open to critical reflection on some of the most urgent and horrific injustices of our time.
When I informed the organizers that I would be speaking about my time in Palestine, and about the ongoing genocide in Gaza — and Western complicity in enabling it — I was told that the committee had since decided it was not the right time for me to participate.
My keynote invitation was rescinded.
Why? Because, they said, my contribution would disrupt the “sociometry” of the organization — in other words, it might upset the emotional dynamics or relationships within the group.
At a time when leading genocide scholars — including many who are Jewish and Israeli — have repeatedly identified what is happening in Gaza as genocide….
When Israeli human rights groups like B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights are using the same term and calling for international sanctions to end complicity….
When governments around the world are urging Israel to stop its deliberate starvation of civilians, especially babies….
And when even right-wing media outlets are reporting on Israeli war crimes — the ASGPP Social Justice Committee has chosen instead, to prioritize the comfort of those who support or defend this genocide over the voices of those who speak out against it.
I stand in a long tradition of Jewish ethics that prioritizes justice, truth, and liberation. Zionism, in my view, is a betrayal of Judaism — it weaponizes Jewish identity in service of colonialism, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing.
The idea that I who opposes genocide, am being silenced in the name of “social justice” is beyond hypocrisy. It is a moral disgrace.
I have withdrawn completely from any involvement with the symposium. I also urge others to boycott this event and other events organised by ASGPP.
What the ASGPP Society and Social Justice Committee has done is shameful. They have shown that their commitment is not to justice, but to silence, “neutrality”, and complicity.
You cannot claim to be on the side of healing or justice — while turning your back on a people being exterminated in real time.
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