The Madness and Palestine Solidarity Circle, co-hosted by Makan and National Survivor User Network (NSUN) is a bi-monthly online sharing space to think, learn, and feel about overlapping issues relating to Palestine, mental health, militarism, and colonialism.
Using short, accessible and non-compulsory texts and videos to spark discussion, we will be thinking about western psychiatry’s role in genocide, as well as how mental health is thought about, reported on and used by those in power, both in Palestine and the UK.
Sessions will be 90 minutes long with a 10-minute break, and will be taking place online.
Session 1: Tuesday 20 October 2026, 6-7:30pm
The first session will look at how psychology has been shaped by systems like colonialism and capitalism, both in the past and today. Participants will have space to discuss, understand and question how these systems shape the way we think about ourselves and others, and how they affect our everyday lives at home, school and work.
About the Madness & Palestine Solidarity Circle
The Madness & Palestine Solidarity Circle originates from an ongoing collaboration between Makan and the National Survivor User Network. We started working together in 2025 and now wish to offer a more regular space for people to continue thinking about madness, western psychiatry, and Palestine solidarity.
This space is for people who are interested in exploring the interrelation between western psychiatry and Palestine solidarity.
We invite those joining to go beyond simply “learning” or “thinking” and instead offering space to explore how these issues arise within and affect our lives. At the same time, this is a peer-led space and is not intended as a therapeutic offering.
We intend to keep this group small, so those wishing to join the circle will have to complete a short application form.
Makan is an independent, non-partisan organisation dedicated to interconnected learning. Our approach is grounded in a belief that education is a liberatory act that can lay the ground for structural change. Situating Palestine within the context of other human rights, social justice and global liberation movements, we work towards transformation by adopting educational approaches that capture the history of the Palestinian struggle and the realities on the ground. We aim to support advocates as part of a community that is not only well-informed, interconnected, and empowered, but passionately committed to cultivating a future for Palestinians built on freedom, justice, and dignity.