Israeli academic bullied out of mental health conference

For the first time since being bullied out of an international mental health summit in Cape Town in November, an Israeli academic has spoken publicly about the intimidation campaign that prevented her from presenting innovative research. 

The coercion that Dr Galia Moran, associate professor in the department of social work at Ben-Gurion University, faced has reignited concern about what gets lost when anti-Israel activists silence academic discourse on critical topics such as mental health. 

Until now, little was known about the behind-the-scenes pressure placed on Moran in the days leading up to the 7th Global Mental Health Summit held from 10 to 12 November at the Cape Town City Hall. Her sudden withdrawal was reported briefly, but no detailed explanation was made public. A month later, Moran has described how protest groups demanded that she read out a politically scripted denunciation of Israel as a precondition to presenting her scientific work. She said the activists insisted that she use specific phrases, including accusing Israel of genocide and apartheid. 

“At that point, I felt this was escalating in a bad direction,” she told the SA Jewish Report. What began as a request for a personal statement, she said, “was no longer my statement. I was being used to convey their message. Understanding that instead of having an opportunity to discuss a scientific project, the session may turn into a political act, didn’t feel right.” 

Moran, who describes herself as a “peace activist and liberal democrat who opposes harm to any innocent human being”, said organisers later admitted they couldn’t guarantee her safety. “I felt unwelcome,” she said. “I was singled out from the start based on my passport.” 

Her account casts new light on what unfolded inside the summit, and why her withdrawal ultimately derailed the international symposium. Moran was scheduled to present the findings from UPSIDES, a European Union-funded mental health project spanning Germany, Tanzania, Uganda, India, and Israel. The work produced one of the first rigorously validated, culturally adaptable peer-support protocols for psychiatric care, research with direct relevance to South Africa’s overburdened mental health system. 

Even after she withdrew, protesters disrupted the session when her German colleague attempted to present her slides on her behalf. 

Moran said she made it clear that she was willing to engage in open dialogue, yet the protesters refused to take up her offer. 

She said the collapse of the session was especially tragic because of the spirit in which the project was built. “It’s sad and ironic,” she reflected, “because this symposium represented a collaboration between countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia to enhance mental health.” 

Only now, as she describes the depth of coercion she faced, are mental health professionals recognising the significance of the loss. UPSIDES’ work offered scalable solutions tested in African and Asian low-resource settings similar to South Africa. Its findings showing peer-support workers improving social inclusion and recovery outcomes are viewed internationally as highly significant. 

Moran, who was apprehensive about speaking out and worried about the repercussions for her career, said the experience was “unpleasant and stressful”, and emphasised that she was targeted for her nationality, not her views. “As much as I have my criticism of what’s going on in Israel, the war, and Gaza,” she said, “the act of forcing me to condemn genocide and apartheid as a condition for presenting was coercive, not dialogical. It left me no choice.” Known for supervising Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Arab, and Bedouin students, and for her academic commitment to coexistence and equity, she said the demands placed on her contradicted the very principles of mental health work. 

Her decision to speak publicly is partly in response to the escalating intimidation directed at Israeli academics globally, and partly because she believes South Africans deserve to understand what they were denied. She said the political coercion imposed on her undermined the summit’s purpose, which was to advance global mental health collaboration. 

Her revelations have prompted concern within South Africa’s mental health community. Dr Martin Strous, the director of the South African Association of Jewish Mental Health, Medical and Allied Practitioners, said the incident revealed a disturbing trend in which Israeli academics and cultural contributors face identity-based exclusion. “Ideological bullying threatens professional ethics and constitutional rights,” he said, warning that such coercive tactics amount to control that has no place in mental health environments.” 

Healthcare Workers for Palestine South Africa, backed by anti-Israel lobbyists Professor Ashraf Kagee and Professor Melvyn Freeman, announced plans to combat Moran’s participation because she was an Israeli academic. They also called on her to publicly condemn the so-called “genocide”. 

“Her presence and expertise on multicultural perspectives should have contributed valuable expertise,” said Strous. “The deliberate singling out of Dr Moran exemplifies precisely the kind of prejudice our association seeks to address.” 

The timing is significant. At least 80 Jewish doctors and healthcare professionals have recently resigned from the South African Medical Association (SAMA) after it severed ties with the Israel Medical Association and called for its expulsion from the World Medical Association. 

Many describe the move as divisive, alienating, and politically motivated, mirroring the hostility Moran experienced at the summit. It intensified concerns about anti-Israel sentiment and increasingly, antisemitism, within the medical fraternity. The South African Jewish Board of Deputies has met SAMA’s leadership including Chief Executive Dr Mzulungile Nodikida, and is waiting for a formal response. 

Against this backdrop, Moran’s decision to break her silence highlights a broader problem: scientific collaboration is being obstructed in South Africa by activists who demand ideological compliance and who are willing to disrupt academic spaces to achieve political outcomes. 

Moran said she hoped the long-term impact of this incident would be a renewed commitment to keep academic spaces open, safe ,and focused on science. “Mental health is a universal problem, especially now in times of war and political turmoil,” she said. “Even when there are extreme conflicting viewpoints, being able to dialogue and be constructive is essential to developing a more tolerant, peaceful, and accepting society.” 

She believes deeply in the collaborative spirit underpinning the UPSIDES project – diverse people helping one another heal. That message was silenced in Cape Town.