bettina mathes

We need to move beyond placing blame, they say. (As if International Humanitarian Law was a blame game.) I’d say, this is nothing but empty speech, a cleansed vocabulary shutting out the reality of two million Palestinians.As psychoanalysts we can do better than this.
Rarely, very rarely indeed, are we willing to listen to and speak with Palestinians. And even then, on those rare occasions, we issue a caveat: speak softly, present yourself as meek, like a supplicant.
Don't show your anger! Why not? Because Jewish interlocutors and audiences must not be ‘made’ to feel uncomfortable. Must be allowed to perceive themselves as victims. An outrageous requirement! To make the comfort of the listener a precondition for hearing, for recognizing as it were, the devastating reality of the speaker. Easy listening the psychoanalytic way. We, psychoanalysts must do better than this!